The global growth forecasts for 2021 paint a less dire picture than the previous estimates of October, the head of the IMF said on Thursday, asserting that this year promises to be a “consequential year” as the world faces an unprecedented race between coronavirus, vaccines and a risk of diverging recoveries.

Cautioning that a “difficult period” lies ahead, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva said there are also “incredible opportunities” for structural transformation.

“We are in the process of updating our 2020 growth estimates for 2021. They paint a less dire picture than our October forecasts, specially with data from the third quarter surprising on the upside,” she said during a global media roundtable.

India praise

Georgieva praised India for taking “very decisive” steps to deal with the pandemic and its economic consequences and asked the country to do more this year to support an accelerated transformation of the economy.

The IMF chief predicted a less bad outlook for India in the upcoming World Economic Update .