11 Million People In Asia May Be Driven Into Poverty Because Of Covid-19

According to the report by World Bank, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines will likely be harder hit. While Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia and Myanmar are the few countries expected to see growth, albeit at a significantly lower levels compared to last year.

The report pointed out that countries that are most vulnerable are countries that rely heavily on trade, tourism, and commodities. Countries that have high amounts of debts are also vulnerable. In this scenario, Harian Metro reports that Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor Leste and Thailand will slip into negative economy territory.

Malaysia’s economy is expected to decrease by 4.6% followed by Timor Leste at 4.0% and Thailand’s economy might take a huge hit at 5.0% contraction in their economy.

According to CNN, these countries will be especially impacted by a drop in tourism over the coming months. This is because in countries like Malaysia or Thailand, tourism revenues make up more than 10% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Furthermore, China has now grown to be the world’s second largest economy and CNN notes that it has become a primary engine of global growth. This means, any disruption to China’s economy will be felt worldwide.

This report is a forecast provided by the World Bank predicting the direction of various countries’ economy in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic. The outcomes forecasted are not certain and it is reported based on the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic in the views of economists.