Collapse in consumption dragging down global economic outlook: IMF

• Gopinath said economic data gathered since April confirmed the IMF's forecast for a 3pc contraction in global economic output, and potentially worse scenarios.

WASHINGTON: A collapse in consumption and other incoming data are dragging down the outlook for the global economy, the International Monetary Fund's chief economist Gita Gopinath said on Wednesday.

Gopinath said economic data gathered since April confirmed the IMF's forecast for a 3pc contraction in global economic output, and potentially worse scenarios.

"If anything, it looks like the outlook will worsen," she told a conference hosted by the Financial Times newspaper, adding that the collapse of consumption would likely "lead to downward revisions."