Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, has warned of an imminent global recession of that of 2008 magnitude.

In a statement to the G20 finance ministers, she said the human costs of the Coronavirus pandemic were already immeasurable, and as such, nations of the world needed to work together to protect people and limit the economic damage.

According to her, “this is a moment for solidarity – which was a major theme of the meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.”

The IMF disclosed that investors had demobilised $83 billion from emerging markets since the beginning of the crisis, the largest capital outflow ever.

She said: “I emphasized three points in particular: First, the outlook for global growth for 2020 is negative – a recession at least as bad as during the global financial crisis or worse. But we expect recovery in 2021. To get there, it is paramount to prioritise containment and strengthen health systems – everywhere. The economic impact is and will be severe, but the faster the virus stops, the quicker and stronger the recovery will be.

“We strongly support the extraordinary fiscal actions many countries have already taken to boost health systems and protect affected workers and firms. We welcome the moves of major central banks to ease monetary policy. These bold efforts are not only in the interest of each country, but also of the global economy as a whole. Even more will be needed, especially on the fiscal front.

“Second, advanced economies are generally in a better position to respond to the crisis, but many emerging markets and low-income countries face significant challenges. They are badly affected by outward capital flows, and domestic activities will be severely impacted as countries respond to the epidemic.

“Third, what can we, the IMF, do to support our members? We are concentrating bilateral and multilateral surveillance on this crisis and policy actions to temper its impact. We will massively step up emergency finance – nearly 80 countries are requesting our help – and we are working closely with the other international financial institutions to provide a strong coordinated response. We are replenishing the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust to help the poorest countries. We welcome the pledges already made and call on others to join. We stand ready to deploy all our $1 trillion lending capacity. And we are looking at other available options.”