April 22, 2020

Andrew Campbell 

The global financial markets have been shaken by lockdowns under the COVID-19 pandemic with intense volatility and heavy losses. In particular, many Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have suffered among the hardest-hit and are seemingly the prospect of a new debt crisis.

UN’s Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development released April 9 a report on “Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2020” which indicated the tremendous potential for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but warning COVID-19 has underlined challenges and risks. 60 international agencies urged rapid, coordinated response as COVID-19 pandemic threatens to destabilize poor countries’ finances. UN warned billions of people living in countries teetering on the brink of economic collapse are being threatened further by a looming debt crisis.

According to a new UN report released on April 21, “Assessing the Effects of COVID-19 to Plan the Recovery”, the UN-led Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) projected -5.3% drop in economic growth a recession back to -5.0% drop the Great Depression in 1930 and plummeted -4.9% in 1914. In addition, the ECLAC report predicted that the pandemic would lead to “the post-COVID-19 world” that countries adapt to new development with equality and environmental sustainability such as automation and digitalization which companies would follow measures to social distancing.

Photo:Webshot.