World economy to recover in 2010: Fitch

LONDON: The global economy will decline sharply this year and recover in 2010, credit ratings agency Fitch forecast on Tuesday, in a further sign of international economic malaise.

Fitch said in its Global Economic Outlook that worldwide gross domestic product (GDP), which grew by 1.7 percent last year, would decline by 2.7 percent in 2009 and then recover to show growth of 1.4 percent in 2010.

Advanced economies, including the United States, Japan and the euro area, would see the sharpest declines in GDP, by 3.8 percent in 2009, whereas emerging markets will continue to grow, albeit markedly slower, at a rate of 0.7 percent, according to Fitch.

Both groups of countries will see a recovery next year, however, to 0.6 percent and 3.9 percent respectively.

Brian Coulton, Fitch's head of global economics, said in a conference call with reporters that the ongoing economic downturn would be "easily the deepest recession since the Second World War".