World Bank downgrades outlook for developing countries in Europe, Central Asia

In an updated outlook published Thursday, the World Bank made sharp downward revisions to the growth outlooks for developing countries and emerging markets in Europe and Central Asia this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, as cited by the Deccan Herald.

Key findings

“Its baseline scenario called for the gross domestic product among developing countries and emerging markets in the region to contract by 2.8% in 2020, while the downside scenario saw a deeper recession with growth shrinking 4.4%.

That marked a downward revision of 5.4% to 7% from the bank's outlook just three months ago.

The pandemic is certain to derail the near-term outlook by weighing on domestic demand, putting further downward pressure on commodity prices, disrupting tightly-linked global and regional supply chains, reducing travel and tourist arrivals, and decreasing demand for exports from the region.

The report covers a broad region that includes Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania and Poland, as well as Serbia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan.

Economic activity could rebound significantly in 2021, with GDP set to expand between 5.6% to 6.1%, however much would depend on when measures to contain the virus were lifted.”