Cambodia and Thailand are set to be two of the region's hardest hit economies according to the IMF, as nations across Southeast Asia are forecast to be ravaged by the global economic slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic
Asian economies are expected to plunge this year from previously forecast growth curves thanks to effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, IMF Asia and Pacific director Changyong Rhee said in a Wednesday night virtual press conference from Washington DC.
«The impact of coronavirus on the region will be severe, across the board and unprecedented,» Rhee said. «Asia’s growth rate in 2020 is expected to be 0%; this is worse than the growth rate during the global financial crisis and even during the Asian financial crisis. Actually, Asia has never experienced zero growth rate in the last 60 years».
«I think the economy will be hit hard,» Rhee said.
If anyone watching was inclined to shrug at the forecast against the more dire numbers levelled at other economies, he contextualised the drop against the Kingdom’s recent arc of rapid economic growth.
«Their growth rate prior to the crisis was expected to be 7%, so it’s actually a more than 8.5% decline compared to our pre-crisis forecast,» Rhee explained, pointing to Cambodia’s steep decrease in tourist arrivals and cancelled garment factory orders from buyers in the US and Europe. Indeed, even countries like South Korea, which avoided a massive decline in predicted GDP thanks to virus containment measures that dodged major industry shutdowns, will likely find their export-heavy fortunes riding on the strength of the global economy.
The IMF still expects China’s GDP to grow by 1.2%, a decline from earlier forecasts but an uptick from the 9% contraction experienced in the high crisis there of the first quarter of the business year.
This article was written by Andrew Haffner
To read the full article, please click on the following link: https://southeastasiaglobe.com/imf-asian-economic-growth-set-to-be-lowest-for-six-decades/
4099.100 SRY