The World Bank has suggested that India and other South Asian countries this year will experience the worst performance of economic growth in four decades due to the outbreak of the Corona virus.
According to Reuters, the bank predicted in a report that the eight-nation region would grow between 1.8 and 2.8 percent this year, down from 6.3 percent in its previous forecast six months ago.
The bank said in the report that India's economy, the largest in the region, is expected to grow between 1.5 and 2.8 percent in the fiscal year that started on April 1. The bank estimates it grew between 4.8 and five percent in the fiscal year that ended March 31.
The report stated that the recovery buds that were noticeable at the end of 2019 were overshadowed by the negative effects of the global crisis.
Regarding other countries, the bank expected that Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh will experience a sharp drop in economic growth.
In its report based on country-level data as of April 7, the bank said that the other three countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Maldives, are expected to enter into a recession.
Actions by countries in the region to combat the Coronavirus have disrupted supply chains in South Asia, which have recorded more than 13,000 infections - which remains a level far below other regions of the world.
India announced a comprehensive shutdown of its 1.3 billion people, causing millions to lose their jobs, disrupt small and large companies, and push millions of migrant workers out of cities and return to their villages.
The bank warned that if measures to suspend activities continue for a long time and on a large scale, the worst possibility indicates that the entire region will suffer from an economic downturn this year.
In order to alleviate economic hardship in the short term, the World Bank called on countries in the region to announce fiscal and monetary measures to support migrant workers who have lost their jobs and debt relief to companies and individuals.
India has unveiled a $ 23 billion economic plan to provide direct cash transfers to millions of poor people affected by the general isolation measures. In Pakistan, the government announced a $ 6 billion plan to support the economy.
Hartwig Scheffer, a senior official at the World Bank, said the South Asian governments ’best priority is to contain the spread of the virus and protect its people, especially the poorest who face the worst health and economic consequences.
