Pacific department, City in Ecuador

Bangkok, April 16 The economies of the Asia-Pacific region will experience zero growth in 2020, the worst since the 1960s, due to the COVID-19 pandemic although they will rebound strongly next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday.Growth in Asia will be lower than even that experienced during the 2008 global financial crisis - when it was 4.7 per cent - and during the 1998 Asian financial crisis, when the region grew at 1.3 per cent, the Director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, Chang Yong Rhee, said."That said, Asia still looks to fare better than other regions in terms of activity," said Rhee, adding that the global economy was expected to shrink 3 percent, the worst recession since the Great Depression of 1929, Efe news reported."Asia's key trading partners are expected to contract sharply, including the US by 6.0 percent and Europe by 6.6 per cent," the expert said.According to Rhee, China's growth will contract from 6.1 per cent in 2019 to 1.2 per cent in 2020, in contrast to the 9.4 per cent growth the country posted in 2009 following the global financial crisis on account of a fiscal stimulus by the government of 8 per cent of its GDP."We cannot expect that magnitude of stimulus this time, and China won't help Asia's growth as it did in 2009," the South Korean economist concluded.There have also been downward revisions of over 9 percentage points in the case of New Zealand (-7.2 per cent), Australia (-6.7 per cent) and Thailand (-6.7 per cent) while Pacific island countries were among the most vulnerable due to their limited healthcare and financial capacity.Rhee said that the prospects for 2021 are for "strong growth" despite being highly uncertain as they depend on the effectiveness of measures to contain the novel coronavirus and policy stimulus measures by governments.The IMF expert recommended targeted support to hardest-hit households and firms, given directly, not just through financial institutions.( With inputs from IANS )

Home

City

Latest News

Cricket

LT Premium

National

International

Maharashtra

Opinions

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Nagpur

Entertainment

Photos

Business

Technology

Sports

Lifestyle

Social Viral

Lokmat Games

Health

Narendra Modi

Lok Sabha Election 2024

Heatwave In India

Mumbai Mega Block

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election

T20 World Cup 2024

Pacific DepartmentFOLLOW

Pacific department, Latest News

Politics :21 killed, dozens injured in Ecuador prison riots

Quito, July 23 At least 21 prisoners were killed and several others injured during riots in two prisons ... ...

International :COVID-19 deaths surpass 12,000 in Ecuador

Ecuador registered 26 more Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 12,003, the Ministry of Public Health said, adding that another 1,633 infections were reported in this period, taking the total caseload to 330,388. ...

International :COVID-19 deaths surpass 12,000 in Ecuador

Ecuador registered 26 more Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 12,003, the Ministry of Public Health said, adding that another 1,633 infections were reported in this period, taking the total caseload to 330,388. ...

International :Ecuador surpasses 220,000 cases of COVID-19

Ecuador surpassed 220,000 cases of COVID-19 after registering 1,201 new infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 220,349, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday. ...

Business :Asia Pacific to clock lowest growth since 1960s due to COVID-19 pandemic: IMF

Economic growth in the Asia Pacific this year will come to a halt for the first time in 60 years as coronavirus crisis takes an unprecedented toll on the region, the International Monetary Fund has said. ...

Politics :Asia-Pacific to grow at slowest rate since 1960s: IMF

The economies of the Asia-Pacific region will experience zero growth in 2020, the worst since the 1960s, due to the COVID-19 pandemic although they will rebound strongly next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday. ...