Global economic outlook boosted on vaccines, stimulus package

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday said that the rollout of coronavirus vaccines around the world and the sweeping coronavirus stimulus package moving forward in Congress have both boosted the global economic outlook. 

OECD in its March interim report said that a “global economic recovery is in sight,” following the wide-reaching economic crisis spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.

The organization said that global gross domestic product growth is projected to reach 5.6 percent this year, a more than 1 percentage point increase from the group’s December prediction. 

“World output is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels by mid-2021 but much will depend on the race between vaccines and emerging variants of the virus,” OECD added. 

According to Reuters, OECD chief economist Laurence Boone said during an online news conference Tuesday that the current pace of vaccinations “is not fast enough to consolidate the recovery,” adding, “we need to go much faster and we need to do much better.” 

“Not vaccinating fast enough risks undermining the fiscal stimulus that has been put in place,” Boone said. 

As of Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded that more than 60 million people in the U.S. have already received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with approximately 31.5 million fully vaccinated. 

Globally, more than 309 million vaccine doses have been administered, or four doses for every 100 people, according to The New York Times. 

OECD on Tuesday also noted that much of the vaccine distribution has been uneven, with higher-income countries having more improved access to vaccine doses. 

“The outlook for growth would improve … if the production and distribution of doses accelerates, is better co-ordinated around the world and gets ahead of virus mutations,” OECD wrote. 

Several coronavirus variants have been detected across the U.S. and around the globe, with many health experts concerned that the currently approved vaccines do not offer protection from the more infectious strains of the virus. 

Support for vaccine rollout is among the provisions included in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package in the U.S., the benefits from which OECD said on Tuesday could extend to other countries and add more than a percentage point to global growth. 

The Senate over the weekend approved the bill, which includes new stimulus checks to Americans, support for state and local governments and schools to assist in reopening plans and funding for vaccine distribution coordination. 

The House was initially expected to take a final vote on the massive relief package on Tuesday, but Democratic aides said that the vote could be pushed to Wednesday as the House awaits bill processing papers from the Senate.