The year 2009 is likely to be the weakest year for the global economy since the second world war, largely because of the recessionary trend in advanced economies, media reports says.
"Forecasters say 2009 is shaping up to be the weakest year for the global economy for decades, and possibly since the second world war," the Sunday Times said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has revised down its world forecasts twice since the summer, will shortly unveil new predictions that will show the global economy formally in recession, the report added.
According to Consensus Economics, on the basis of assessing economic growth using market exchange rates, global growth next year would be only 0.4 per cent, the weakest since 1945, dominated by the synchronised downturn in advanced economies.