Covid19 World Economic Recession? In the most unusual situation for the first time in human history, other than the world war scenario, the world is facing economic recession amid economic slowdown going on for the past few years. The epidemic of this recession is not due to any major war or conflicts but a pandemic caused by the Covid19 virus or Novel Coronavirus. The avalanche caused by the coronavirus not only killed more than 22,000 people worldwide and 500,000 still infected to this day in 196 countries but threatening the world with a severe economic recession if it lasts another few more weeks.
Surge in unemployment across the world due to lockdown, self-employed people became jobless overnight. Shutting down of retail shops, factories, banks and offices leading to an economic catastrophe for ordinary citizens. Trains, airlines, buses and even private vehicles are out of streets.
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Status of the World Economy – Before Corona Virus Pandemic
‘The lady is already weak but then now pregnant too’, this is the current status of the global economy. It was going through major economic slowdown for the past few years and now the coronavirus pandemic has hit hard. The world’s No.1 economy, China, the world’s epicenter of Coronavirus outbreak is now slowly numbing back to normalcy as the country’s economy is battling hard since December 2019 to control the infection even this day with a total death toll of 3,200. China is the world’s ‘manufacturing hub’, the country’s economy is totally relying on the export of goods manufactured hit really hard when the factories are shut and the commercial flight/shipping operation is halted, retail shops are closed.
Coronavirus Spread to Other Country Economies
South Korea – Coronavirus Infected the Economy
the next country affected by coronavirus Pandemic was South Korea when the death toll reached 50 the Government rose to defensive mode with declaring the country to a total lockdown including the economic capital Seoul. The outbreak in South Korea believed to be spread by those who visited Wuhan in China, the epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak. So far South Korea managed to control the virus more effectively than any other country in the world with a current death toll of 120. Hyundai Motor shut down its factories, saw exports drop 21.4% in February from the same month last year, according to Yonhap news agency. Total motor vehicle exports dropped 27.4% in the first two months of 2020, continuing a downward trend dating from August 2019.
Iran Economy Under Collapse – Coronavirus Pandemic
The Middle East’s worst Coronavirus outbreak lashed out at the Islamic Republic of Iran when the country’s economy was already in ICU due to the US sanctions from 2018 which curb the oil and gas exports crucial revenue stream for the Government. The catastrophe of covid19 has killed 1,800 people in Iran including dozens of Iranian government officials, parliamentarians, military officials and religious leaders. With limited resources to fight the pandemic due to the sanctions, the Government was in a tight spot as the experts outside Iran in the belief that the death toll and the magnitude of the Coronavirus strike may be greater than the official statistics. The only industry survived in Iran post-sanction was tourism and that too hit hard due to the travel ban and flight cancellations. Restrictions in trade and tourism with its main partners China and Iraq is hurting its economy badly. It is disheartening to see the videos online where it shows people in Iran collapses on the streets and dies with the lack of medicines as the country is unable to import the medical supply due to the crippling US sanctions. The onus is on the US administration and President Donald Trump to ease the sanctions on humanitarian grounds for the Iranian population to reach out to the basic medics, masks to counter the severe respiratory viral infection.
Italy was Sleeping While Coronavirus was spreading!
Europe’s epicenter of Coronavirus outbreak Italy and its political leaders did not take it seriously despite the fact that 19 people already died and many infected until one of the leaders of the ruling coalition Mr.Nicola Zingaretti infected with the deadly coronavirus. He visited Milan on February 24 when 11 Italian cities were on lockdown. He even visited the worst affected Lombardy region and spend his time with a group of students and tweeted “nothing to worry, the Italian economy is strong, people need not abandon their food habits due to fear”. After 9 days he declared that he has been inflicted with Covid19 and under quarantine at home and advised everybody to quarantine. In short, the lack of seriousness in the political leadership reflected in the common population. One point of time they even hesitated to close down the bars and restaurants post the Government notification came with the effect on March 8. The current death toll of Italy stands 6,077 even double than China shows the grave situation the country is at the moment. All shopping malls, factories, Schools closed and Northern Italy under complete lockdown including Milan, Florence etc.
Covid19 World Economic Recession? – Severe Recession Warning by IMF
Covid19 World Economic Recession?
Head of International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva has warned that the damage done to the global economy by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic could be as bad or worse than the global financial crisis in 2008 and lead to a recession. She also noticed that advanced economies stand a better chance to properly respond to the coronavirus’ impact while emerging markets could be hit really hard by the outbreak. Georgieva stressed that the best thing to do for economies to recuperate after the new shock is to focus on containing the disease and strengthening national healthcare systems.
US Economy Downwards – Covid19 World Economic Recession
The number of people without jobs in the US has surged to a record high as the economy goes into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 3.3 million people registered to claim unemployment benefits for the week ended 21 March, according to the Department of Labor data. The previous record was set in 1982 when unemployment claims hit 695,000. The sharp rise marks an abrupt end to a long period of slow and steady job market expansion.
1.3 Billion People Under lockdown -India
Ever crowded Indian streets and popular railway stations and airports are empty as a curb to control the coronavirus outbreak in India. So far it has taken 17 lives and 600 people infected across the country. The central government has declared 21 days of lockdown to stop the community spread of the deadly covid-19 viruses. One of the world’s largest economy was going through hardship from its notorious demonetization a few years back. Millions lost their jobs and livelihood and many small scale business and industries already closed coupled with the chaos created by the introduction of GST(Goods Service Tax) to unify the service-related taxes across the states. Many banks are either closed or on the verge of closing due to the surge in non-performing assets via large loans to big business houses wherein either they have closed their businesses or the owners escaped abroad.
to be continued…
