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OECD Warns of Severe Economic Hit From Virus Outbreak

Agence France-Presse

   PARIS - The coronavirus outbreak will have a major impact on economic
   growth worldwide this year, the OECD warned Monday as it lowered its
   global GDP forecast by half a percentage point to 2.4 percent, the
   lowest rate since the 2008-09 financial crisis.

   That forecast assumes the virus outbreak fades this year, but a more
   severe outbreak "would weaken prospects considerably," the group of
   free-market economies said.

   Already the global economy risks an outright contraction in the first
   quarter, the OECD said, in its first comprehensive study of the impact
   on the world's major economies.

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