Coronavirus downturn will be worse than 2008, WTO says

The World Trade Organization's chief said on Wednesday that projections show that the economic downturn and job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic would be worse than the 2008 recession.

"Recent projections predict an economic downturn and job losses that are worse than the global financial crisis a dozen years ago," director-general Roberto Azevedo said in a video message posted on the Geneva-based body's website.

He said concrete forecasts are not yet available but its in-house economists expect "a very sharp decline in trade".