© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Rising Tide: Powerful U.S. Growth Set To Lift Global Economy, IMF Says

The International Monetary Fund has raised its forecasts for both the U.S. and the global economies, crediting rapid COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and relief efforts.
Mandel Ngan
/
AFP via Getty Images
The International Monetary Fund has raised its forecasts for both the U.S. and the global economies, crediting rapid COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and relief efforts.

The United States may just become the engine of global economic growth this year, according to a new forecast released Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF expects the U.S. economy will grow 6.4% this year, its strongest growth in decades. That's faster than the 5.1% growth it was projecting just two months ago and nearly double the growth rate it predicted in October.

IMF forecasters credit the rapid rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, along with trillions of dollars in relief spending that Congress passed for helping to boost growth prospects at home and worldwide.

The organization now expects the global economy to grow by 6% this year, up from 5.5% forecast in January.

"Thanks to the ingenuity of the scientific community, hundreds of millions of people are being vaccinated, and this is expected to power recoveries in many countries later this year," IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said. "Additional fiscal support in large economies — particularly the United States — has further improved the outlook."

Still, Gopinath stressed that the outlook remains uncertain and warned of stark differences in the speed at which countries recover from the pandemic.

"These diverging recovery paths are likely to create wider gaps in living standards across countries compared to pre-pandemic expectations," Gopinath said.

The IMF calculates that the global economy shrank by 3.3% last year — the worst downturn in records dating back to 1980. Gopinath said the downturn could have been three times as bad, had it not been for aggressive relief efforts in rich countries such as the United States.

As it was, the pandemic recession pushed an estimated 95 million people into severe poverty worldwide.

The IMF urged the international community to ramp up production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as quickly as possible. While every adult in the United States is expected to have access to the vaccine this summer, people in other countries could be waiting until the end of next year, or longer.

"First and foremost, countries need to work together to ensure universal vaccination," Gopinath said. "Without additional effort to give all people a fair shot, cross-country gaps in living standards could widen significantly, and decades-long progress in global poverty reduction could reverse."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Scott Horsley is NPR's Chief Economics Correspondent. He reports on ups and downs in the national economy as well as fault lines between booming and busting communities.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Related Content