Omicron Variant Likely to Usher Growth Downgrades: IMF’s Georgieva

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during a conference at the Vatican, Italy, on Feb. 5, 2020. Remo Casilli/Reuters

WASHINGTON—Global economic growth projections from the International Monetary Fund will likely be downgraded due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday.

“A new variant that may spread very rapidly can dent confidence, and in that sense, we are likely to see some downgrades of our October projections for global growth,” Georgieva said during the Reuters Next conference.