WASHINGTON
\nRussia\u2019s military offensive in Ukraine, and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Moscow as a result, threaten the uneven recovery of developing East Asia and Pacific countries from the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Bank has said.
\nThe ongoing conflict has added to the woes caused by the economic distress due to the lingering Covid-19 pandemic and the financial tightening in the US, the Washington-based lender said in a report the other day.
\nThe war has disrupted supply chains, escalated financial stress and dampened global growth, the report said.
\n\u201cJust as the economies of East Asia and the Pacific were recovering from the pandemic-induced shock, the war in Ukraine is weighing on growth momentum,\u201d Manuela V Ferro, the World Bank\u2019s vice president for the region, said.
\n\u201cThe region\u2019s largely strong fundamentals and sound policies should help it weather these storms.\u201d
\nThe Russia-Ukraine crisis has already pushed global oil prices to multi-year highs, raising transport costs, worsening already high inflation levels, driving up the prices of basic goods and denting the tentative growth of a global economy that was just recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and potentially tipping some countries into a recession.
\nWhile commodity producers and fiscally prudent countries in East Asia and Pacific may be better equipped to weather these shocks, the repercussions of these events will diminish the growth prospects of most in the region, the World Bank said.
\nThe countries which are large importers of fuel, such as Mongolia and Thailand, and food \u2014 the Pacific Islands \u2014 are experiencing a decline in incomes. Whereas, the economies with large debt, like Laos and Mongolia, and high dependence on exports \u2014 like Malaysia and Vietnam \u2014 are susceptible to global financial and growth shocks, it added.
\n\u201cThe succession of shocks means that the growing economic pain of the people will have to face the shrinking financial capacity of their governments,\u201d Aaditya Mattoo, World Bank\u2019s East Asia and Pacific chief economist, said.
\n\u201cA combination of fiscal, financial and trade reforms could mitigate risks, revive growth and reduce poverty.\u201d Overall economic growth in the region is expected to drop to 5 per cent this year \u2014 0.4 percentage point less than expected in October. If global conditions worsen and national policy responses are weak, growth could further slow to 4 per cent, the lender said.
\nChina, which accounts for 86 percent of the regional output, is projected to grow 5 percent in the baseline and 4 percent in the downside scenario. Output in the rest of the region is projected to expand 4.8 percent in the baseline and 4.2 percent in the downside circumstances.
\nIn the downside scenario, six million more people in the region would remain trapped in poverty this year at the $5.50\/day poverty line, the report said. The World Bank also recommended policy actions to control the situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON Russia\u2019s military offensive in Ukraine, and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Moscow as a result, threaten the uneven recovery of developing East Asia and Pacific countries from the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Bank has said. The ongoing conflict has added to the woes caused by the economic distress due to the lingering Covid-19 pandemic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-253352","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n