The World Bank, with reservations, predicts economic growth in Central Asia in 2021
The World Bank, with reservations, predicts the growth of the economies of Central Asia in 2021. This was reported by the agency Sputnik Kazakhstan with the reference to the World Bank Regional Director for Central Asia Liliya Burunchuk.
“It is difficult to predict how long recovery of economies will take. One thing is for sure, that the recovery will be long. The pandemic was a tremendous shock and led to a sharp decline in the entire global economy. According to our basic forecast, in 2020 the world GDP is expected to decrease by 5.2%. And in Central Asia it is 1.7%. And this recession in the global economy will be the deepest in many decades and even centuries,” Liliya Burunchuk noted during an online briefing in Almaty on the theme “COVID-19 in Central Asia: poverty and socio-economic consequences”.
According to her, for 2021, World Bank experts predict the growth of the economies of Central Asia. But the situation may change if the pandemic worsens and new waves of infection follow, which may lead to more difficult results next year.
The representative of the World Bank emphasized that in this case, those countries whose economies are largely connected by trade and financial relations with other countries of the world and the global economy as a whole will suffer most.
“And this, by the way, also includes countries in which remittances play an important role. And this is typical for the countries of Central Asia,” added Lilia Burunchuk.
In a word, how the countries of the region and the world will develop in the future is determined by how measures are taken today to combat the pandemic in order to avoid the second wave of coronavirus. People should clearly understand that, following the instructions of the authorities to observe quarantine measures, self-isolation, wearing masks, etc., they give themselves and their loved ones guarantees for a decent, economic future.
Nury AMANOV
