US-based investment bank and financial services company JP Morgan Chase & Company (JP Morgan) has, in its latest weekly economic forecast for more than 40 countries and regions around the world, identified South Africa as one of the five countries likely to be the most severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. And all 40 countries and regions are predicted to suffer from declines in their gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates. Regarding South Africa, JP Morgan has forecast that the economy will contract by 7% this year. However, as the country’s economy was predicted (pre-Covid-19) to grow only 0.7% this year, this means that the total reversal comes to 7.7%. Moreover, the short-term GDP will be severely cut because the current lockdown has closed about 50% of the national economy.
