WORLD BANK / COVID-19 GLOBAL ECONOMIC PROSPECTS

The World Bank Group said it expects the global economy to expand by 4 percent this year, if a COVID-19 vaccine rollout becomes widespread throughout 2021. WORLD BANK

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:03:19
• Production Date: 5 January 2021
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: WORLD BANK
• Subject Topical: ECONOMIC CONDITIONS; STATISTICS
• MAMS Id: 2596164
• Parent Id: 2596164
• Alternate Title: unifeed210105c

Description

STORY: WORLD BANK / COVID-19 GLOBAL ECONOMIC PROSPECTS
TRT: 03:19
SOURCE: WORLD BANK GROUP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WORLD BANK GROUP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 05 JANUARY 2021, WASHINGTON, DC, USA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, exterior World Bank Group Headquarters
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ayhan Kose, Acting Vice President, Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions, World Bank Group:
“Growth is coming back in 2021. At the global level, we are expecting growth to be around 4%. If you look at advanced economies, they are going to deliver growth around 3.3 percent. And if you look at emerging developing economies, we are expecting growth to be around, it should be percent.”
3. Wide shot, exterior World Bank Group Headquarters
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ayhan Kose, Acting Vice President, Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions, World Bank Group: “
“So, there are some good news, not so good news is that it is still a subdued recovery. It is going to take time to recover from this devastating year of 2020.”
5. Tracking shot, exterior World Bank Group Headquarters
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ayhan Kose, Acting Vice President, Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions, World Bank Group:
“If things go well, and we have widespread vaccine deployment in advanced economies, major emerging market that will open economies by the end of 2021, I think that these growth forecasts are going to be reasonably fair.”
7. Wide shot, exterior World Bank Group Headquarters
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ayhan Kose, Acting Vice President, Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions, World Bank Group:
“There are some few very highly effective vaccines. They are going to change the trajectory. Now it is up to policy makers to make sure that there is widespread deployment of vaccines to a large share of population around the world.”
9. Wide shot, exterior World Bank Group Headquarters
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ayhan Kose, Acting Vice President, Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions, World Bank Group:
“For 90percent of countries per capita incomes declined last year. For a quarter of emerging developing economies per capita income losses basically erased all the games of past decade. So as much as growth is coming back, there are still significant challenges in many parts of the world.”
11. Wide shot, exterior World Bank Group Headquarters
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Ayhan Kose, Acting Vice President, Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions, World Bank Group:
“As long as there is a strong global cooperation, I think global economy will overcome these challenges and better days probably ahead of us thanks to the work of the scientific community. And let's hope policy makers will do what we are expecting of them to do.”

Storyline

The World Bank Group today (5 Jan) said it expects the global economy to expand by 4 percent this year, if a COVID-19 vaccine rollout becomes widespread throughout 2021.

News of the projected expansion comes after the global economy shrank by 4.3 percent in 2020, according to figures in the group’s latest Global Economic Prospects report.

The pandemic has caused a heavy toll of deaths and illness and has plunged millions into poverty and may depress economic activity and incomes for a prolonged period, according to a press release issued by the World Bank.

Immediate policy priorities should now focus on controlling the spread of the virus and ensuring rapid and widespread vaccine deployment, the World Bank advises.

The collapse in global economic activity in 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic, is estimated to have been slightly less severe than previously projected, mainly due to shallower contractions in advanced economies overall, and a more robust recovery in China, the forecast states.

However, for most emerging market and developing economies, the impact was more acute than expected.

The Prospects also examine how the pandemic has amplified risks around taking on increasing debt and its impact on long term growth.

The pandemic is expected to leave long lasting adverse effects on global activity, the World Bank warns, with a likely slowdown in global growth stretching through the next decade, due to underinvestment, underemployment, and labour force declines in many advanced economies.

Policymakers need to continue to sustain the recovery, gradually shifting from income support to growth-enhancing policies, the World Bank said.

In the longer run, in emerging market and developing economies, policies to improve health and education services, digital infrastructure, climate resilience, and business and governance practices will help mitigate the economic damage caused by the pandemic, reduce poverty and advance shared prosperity, while in the context of reduced public spending and elevated debt, institutional reforms to spur organic growth are particularly important.