The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised upwards Israel's growth forecast for 2021 from 4.1% in its January forecast, to 5%. This figure is slightly above the Ministry of Finance's 2021 growth forecast of 4.9%. In 2022, the IMF sees Israel's economy growing by 4.3%.
The IMF sees inflation rising to 0.7% in Israel in 2021, about half that of most OECD countries, and predicts that unemployment will fall in Israel to just 5% by the end of the year, and to 4.6% in 2022. This optimistic figure does not relate to the unpaid leave situation in some sectors such as tourism and aviation.
The IMF's economists see 6% overall global growth in 2021, up from 5.5% in their previous prediction in January. The latest forecast is based on the generous stimulus packages in some countries such as the US and an expected accelerated recovery in the second half of the year when vaccination rollouts take effect.
IMF's economists caution their forecasts with the warning that uncertainty remains high because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 6, 2021
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