Irish Examiner view: IMF forecast gives us some optimism

Just as even the hint of an oasis on the horizon can reinvigorate a half-lost, half-dead desert traveller, any plausible optimism offered today is a most precious currency. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday offered some hope when it said it expects America and China to experience a quicker economic recovery from the pandemic than Europe and other parts of the world.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the Washington-based fund predicted that, before the end of next year, that rejuvenation in the two superpowers will leave their respective economies no more than 1.5% smaller than was projected before the pandemic.

This, should it transpire, is a modest enough judgement of the impact the pandemic might have.

Should those super economies recover so quickly, the-rising-tides, coat-tails principle augurs well for the rest of the world and must be welcomed. 

Even at this moment, when so much is absolutely uncertain, we must do all we can to be in a position to join that recovery.