LONDON – Vaccine policy will trump all other economic policies this year as the world tries to recover from the coronavirus crisis, Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund, said at CNBC’s Global Evolve Summit on Wednesday.
“Vaccine policy this year, probably next year, will be the most important economic policy, and could even outpace monetary and fiscal policy,” Georgieva told CNBC’s Geoff Cutmore.
“One of the prerequisites for bringing the world to a consistently high level of growth everywhere is vaccinating all people, and that has not yet been done. We have [a] currently two-pronged vaccination path; We have to overcome that, ”she said.
The fund said in April that the end of the crisis was “increasingly visible”. At that time, the institution raised its economic forecasts for the global economy based on higher vaccination rates and ongoing monetary and fiscal stimulus.
The IMF therefore forecast global GDP growth of 6% this year and 4.4% next year. However, projections depend heavily on how vaccination programs develop, including in low-income countries.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Director Kristalina Georgieva will deliver her opening address with a preview of key issues to be addressed at the Annual Meeting on October 8, 2019 in Washington, DC.
NICHOLAS COMB | AFP | Getty Images
The IMF proposed last month a $ 50 billion investment to ensure a faster adoption of coronavirus vaccines and said it could ultimately generate a $ 9 trillion return on the global economy.
Georgieva said Wednesday that this plan was “the best return on investment of our life”.
The fund also called for at least 40% of the world’s population to be vaccinated by the end of the year and at least 60% by June 2022.
According to Our World in Data, only about 21% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. In the United States, 52% of people received their first injection, in the United Kingdom it is 62% and in the European Union 45%.
To encourage post-pandemic economic recovery, some parts of the world have developed a certificate that travelers can use to prove their vaccination status. In the European Union, for example, the introduction of a digital Covid-19 certificate is under way, which shows whether the person has been vaccinated, tested negative for the virus or has a certain level of vaccination protection.
“Having a vaccination card that shows when you were vaccinated is a very useful tool. It is already in use. I believe we need to look into making it more widely used,” Georgieva said.
Some industries have suggested that a vaccination card should be used to attend large gatherings such as music concerts.
