F-1 week ÉDITION 371 – VENDREDI 03 DÉCEMBRE 2021 L’HEBDOMADAIRE DIGITAL GRATUIT The call for pitchers open until 19 December 2021 GLOBAL RESEARCH OECD – WTO JOINT STUDY Slash services trade red tape L’HEBDOMADAIRE ÉLECTRONIQUE GRATUIT Will Omicron derail the global recovery ? It’s too soon to judge the health implications, let alone the economic effects, of the emerging Omicron Covid variant. But its rapid spread around the globe and the speedy re-imposition of restrictions by governments underscores the bumpiness and unpredictability of the path to normalcy. For now, there is no definitive evidence on whether Omicron is more transmissible, causes more or less severe symptoms than Delta, or affects vaccine efficacy. If Omicron became the dominant strait and proves to cause less severe health outcomes than Delta, any near-termnegative effects on the recovery could be quickly reversed and it could even reduce the scale of economic scarring in the medium term. If Omicron becomes the dominant strain, causes more serious side effects, and reduces vaccine efficacy, then the existing downside Covid scenario becomes more plausible as a worst-case. In this scenario, global GDP growth next year could slow to 2.3%, well below existing baseline forecast of 4.5% 2022 BLUEINVEST AFRICA IN SEYCHELLES INTERNATIONAL SOS RISK OUTLOOK 2022 Investment in employee health to increase in response to complex risk outlook