COVID-19 pandemic to bring Asia's 2020 growth to halt for first time in 60 years: IMF
16 April, 2020
Asian monetary growth next season on the assumption that containment policies do well, but added the outlook was highly uncertain.
Unlike the global financial meltdown triggered by the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, the pandemic was directly hitting the region's service sector by forcing households to remain home and shops to turn off, the IMF said.
The region's export powerhouses were also taking a battering from slumping demand because of their goods by key trading partners including the United Claims and Europe, it said.
China's economy is expected to grow by 1.2 % this year, down from 6 % growth found in the IMF's January forecast, on weak exports and losses in domestic activity due to social distancing steps.
The world's second-largest economy is likely to visit a rebound in activity afterwards this season, with growth to bounce back to 9.2 per cent next year, the IMF explained.
But there were risks even to China's development outlook as the virus could return and delay normalisation, the IMF said.
Asian policymakers must give targeted support to households and businesses reach hardest by the pandemic, the IMF said, calling also for efforts to supply ample liquidity to market segments and ease personal stress faced by small and midsize firms.
Emerging economies in your community should tap bilateral and multilateral swap lines, look for financial support from multilateral institutions, and use capital controls as needed to battle any disruptive capital outflows due to the pandemic, the IMF explained.
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