Global Economy to Shrink First Time Since WWII, World Bank Says (Christopher Swann)

  March 8 (Bloomberg) -- The global economy is likely to shrink for the first time since World War II, and trade will decline by the most in 80 years, the World Bank said today.

  The World Bank’s assessment is more pessimistic than an International Monetary Fund report in January predicting 0.5 percent global growth this year. The Washington-based World Bank didn’t provide a specific estimate in its report.

  World growth will be 5 percent below its potential, the bank said. Developing nations will bear the brunt of the contraction. They will face a shortfall of between $270 billion and $700 billion to pay for imports and service debts, the bank said.

  “We need to react in real time to a growing crisis that is hurting people in developing countries,” said World Bank President Robert Zoellick in a statement. Action is needed by governments and multilateral lenders “to avoid social and political unrest.”

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