The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday that unemployment will surge in Pakistan from 4.5% to 5.1% in two years.

The World Economic Outlook projected the country’s current account deficit at 1.7% that may increase to 2.4% in 2020.

Inflation will be at 11.1% in the ongoing year while it would be at 8 %percent next year, it said, posting growth rate at minus 1.5%.

The fund said the world economy in 2020 will suffer its worst year since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

It expected the global economy to shrink 3% this year — far worse than its 0.1%pc dip in the Great Recession year of 2009 - before rebounding in 2021 with 5.8% growth.

It acknowledges, though, that prospects for a rebound next year are clouded by uncertainty. The bleak assessment represents a breathtaking downgrade by the IMF.