Washington, April 9 (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemiccoronavirus that is shaking the world will have a "profoundly negative" effect on the economy in 2020, unleashing the worst global contraction since the Great Depression, with a partial recovery that can be seen in 2021, said the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, described a much bleaker scenario on the social and economic impact of the coronavirus compared to her opinions a few weeks ago, highlighting that governments had already taken fiscal stimulus measures of 8 trillion dollars but that more cash is likely to be needed.
Georgieva said the crisis would hit emerging markets and developing countries most aggressively, requiring hundreds of billions of dollars in assistance for those nations.
"Just three months ago, we expected positive per capita income growth in more than 160 member countries in 2020," he said Thursday, in remarks prepared for a speech at next week's spring meetings between the IMF and the World Bank.
"Today, that figure has reversed: we now project that more than 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year," he said.
If the pandemic begins to ease in the second half of the year, the IMF expects a partial recovery of the economy in 2021, Georgieva said, but warned that the situation could still worsen.
"I emphasize that there is enormous uncertainty about the economic outlook: it could worsen depending on many variable factors, including the duration of the pandemic," he said.
The IMF, which has 189 member countries, will publish its updated forecasts in the World Economic Outlook report next Tuesday.
The new coronavirus that emerged in China in December has spread around the world, infecting 1.41 million people and killing at least 83,400, according to a Reuters tally.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder. Editing in Spanish by Marion Giraldo)
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