IMF chief: 'Clear we have entered recession'

More than 80 countries, mostly of low incomes, have asked the IMF for help, the fund's chief Kristalina Georgieva says. [AFP/File / Brendan Smialowski]

The coronavirus pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help developing nations, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said Friday.

"It is clear that we have entered a recession" that will be worse than in 2009 following the global financial crisis, she said in an online press briefing.