World Bank slashes global GDP outlook for 2009 from -1.7% to -2.9%

The World Bank's latest research contains some extremely gloomy predictions, sparking a heavy sell-off on Wall Street overnight. Global GDP is now predicted to contract by 2.9% and world trade by nearly 10%. On 31-Mar-2009, the World Bank had predicted 1.7% and 6.1% falls in 2009, respectively. And in further bad news for the aviation sector, the World Bank has also revised upwards its oil price prediction for 2009 by 18% in just three months, from USD47 per barrel to USD55.5 per barrel.