Regional & International Economy

India’s Covid-19 economic gloom turned into despair this week, on news that its per capita gross domestic product may be lower for 2020 than in neighbouring Bangladesh.

The debate over Bangladesh’s GDP growth forecasts is back again. There is wide variation in the projections made by the multilateral development agencies for the current fiscal year amid deep uncertainties about the near-term trajectory of the global economy as the pandemic is still raging.

China’s economy continued its rebound from bruising virus lockdowns in the third quarter, clocking 4.9 percent growth on-year, a step closer to pre-pandemic levels, official data showed Monday.

LEADS 2020, a unique multi-faceted 4-day global thought leadership initiative, has recently organized a virtual conference to evolve a shared vision among global leaders, to reimagine economic growth with neighboring South Asian countries.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said forecasts for the global economy were “somewhat less dire” as wealthy countries and China rebounded more quickly than expected from coronavirus lockdowns but warned that the outlook was worsening for many emerging markets, reports Reuters.

They made the projection in its “World Economic Outlook,” released in its website on Wednesday.

The total external debt of the world’s poorest countries climbed 9.5 per cent to a record 744 billion US dollars in 2019, according to the World Bank Group’s latest International Debt Statistics (IDS) report released Monday.

G20 countries may only approve a six-month debt relief extension amid lagging committment to the pact meant to help poor nations weather the pandemic, World Bank President David Malpass said on Monday.

Bangladesh should recommend the United Nations for deferring the next year’s LDC (least developed country) graduation triennial review by three more years, considering the adverse impacts of Covid-19 pandemic, experts said.

A new Covid-19 economic stimulus package proposed by the White House could still be passed despite opposition from Democrats and some Republicans, President Donald Trump’s economic advisor said Sunday.