Global Economic Prospects 2009

The eruption of the worldwide financial crisis has radically recast prospects for the world economy. Global Economic Prospects 2009 analyzes the implications of the crisis for low- and middle-income countries, including an in-depth look at long-term prospects for global commodity markets and the policies of both commodity producing and consuming nations. Developing countries face sharply higher borrowing costs and reduced access to capital. This will cut into their capacity to finance investment spending-ending a five-year stretch of developing-country growth in excess of 6 percent annually. The looming recession presents new risks, coming as it does on the heels of the recent food and fuel crisis.