Following its weakest performance since the global financial crisis, the world economy is poised for a modest rebound this year– if everything goes just right.
Growth is expected to edge up to 2.5% as investment and trade gradually recover from last year’s significant weakness - but downward risks persist, the World Bank says in its January 2020 Global Economic Prospects.
It anticipates that growth among advanced economies will slip to 1.4% - in part due to continued softness in manufacturing - while emerging market and developing economies will see an acceleration to 4.1%.
From a regional perspective, South Africa remains the laggard.
The region as a whole is expected to grow 2.9% while South Africa’s growth forecast, slightly higher than originally predicted, is pinned at 0.9% - and this is contingent on the pace of the new administration’s reform agenda, and whether policy uncertainty wanes and investment gradually recovers.
The West African Economic and Monetary Union is the star performer with growth expected to hold steady at 6.4%. In Kenya, growth is seen edging up to 6%. Nigeria is expected to edge up to 2.1% and Angola to accelerate to 1.5%.
