Triple shock (the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic impact of shutdowns, and the ensuing global recession) Hitting Developing East Asia & Pacific Region

Nokor Khmer, Oct. 28, 2020

World Bank has just recently released a report “From Containment to Recovery: Economic Update for East Asia and the Pacific”.

The Region of East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) includes Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, and the Pacific Island Countries.  The report indicated the successful containment of the pandemic so far in parts of the EAP region, except Indonesia and the Philippines.  The pandemic is still a threat to other countries most recently Myanmar.  The methods of containment of the pandemic consisted of stringent mobility restrictions, extensive testing-based strategies, and information programmes to encourage preventive measures and precautionary be behaviour.  

The economic impact of the pandemic is expected to increase the number of people living in poverty in this region by 38 million in 2020.  The report pointed out that 33 million people would have escaped poverty if no pandemic, 5 million of people would be pushed back into poverty based on the poverty line of $5.50USD/day (defined in 2011ppp).

 

 

The report offered certain number of recommendations and policies as follows:

• ·         Building capacity for smart containment:

o   Doing testing, tracing, and isolating would help contain disease surges with more targeted and less economically disruptive measures.

 

• ·         Initiating fiscal reforms:

o   This could allow greater spending on relief without sacrificing public investment.      

• ·         Devising strategies for smart schooling:

o   This is to protect students, staff, teachers, and their families

o   Sanitary protocols, social distance practices, and student re-enrollment could prevent long-term losses of human capital, especially among the poor.  

• ·         Support for firms:

o   The support is needed to prevent bankruptcies and unemployment without unduly inhibiting the efficient reallocation of workers and resources to firms and sectors.   

 

Find detailed report: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/34497/9781464816413.pdf