Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Journal - Volume 28, Issue 2, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly challenging to developing countries, such as Thailand. Although the country has managed to control the outbreak relatively well, changes in the consumer spending behaviour could affect the whole economy. In this study, household consumption expenditure in Thailand during the first COVID-19 lockdown is examined by using descriptive and empirical analyses. The findings of this study indicate that total consumption declined drastically during the first two quarters of 2020. Consumer spending on services dropped significantly during that time, but spending on non-durable goods, durable goods and housing-related expenses increased. These expenditure patterns are similar to those in developed countries in which consumers increased their spending on at-home activities, but reduced their expenditures outside the home.

The present paper provides estimates of the relationship between the number of Internet exchange points (IXPs) and fixed-broadband speed and latency in 74 countries from 2016 to 2019, using a balanced panel data set developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit for its “Inclusive Internet Index”. While in several studies, a positive role of IXPs on Internet speed and latency is established, a majority of the earlier ones are technical studies examining the traffic routes in specific networks. This paper contributes to this literature by triangulating earlier findings using an econometric model. The recent availability of the panel data set on IXPs, speed and latency by the Economist Intelligence Unit has made this exercise possible.

The present paper contains a discussion on how central banks and financial supervisory authorities can foster green development in Asia and the Pacific. It is based on the argument that while fiscal policy has received much attention, central banks and financial supervisory authorities can certainly play a complementary role in accelerating the transition towards low-carbon, climate-resilient economies. Indeed, these institutions are obliged to act as inaction could compromise their mandate to maintain economic and price stability given that climate change poses an emerging risk to the financial system. The first point made in the paper is that approximately half of the Asia-Pacific central banks either have sustainability-oriented mandates or have begun to integrate climate issues into their policy conduct. The following discussion points out that while the region remains at the early stage of implementing green monetary and financial policies, some central banks and financial supervisory authorities are at the forefront in deploying monetary policy tools, prudential measures and broader initiatives to support green finance. To further promote green central banking, having clear guiding principles, effective communication and adequate technical capacity to customize the green approach is critical. Moving forward, these institutions should be mindful of possible unintended, adverse impacts of sustainable central banking, such as interfering with market neutrality, supporting green washing and crowding out green private investments.

This paper presents the results from using the Digital and Sustainable Regional Integration Index version 1 (DigiSRII 1.0) framework of ESCAP (2020b) to uncover digital economy integration trends across the Asia-Pacific region. The results show that Asia and the Pacific has made good progress with regard to conventional digital economy integration, especially because of the significant improvements in the digital economy infrastructure and liberalization of trade of information and communications technology (ICT) goods. However, capacity-building of the workforce and investment in infrastructure are required to bridge the digitalization gaps among the digitalized economies in the region. Moreover, the fairly low regulatory uniformity among regional economies further highlights the importance of regional regulatory harmonization in order to foster regional trade in digitally enabled goods and services. From a sustainable development perspective, inclusivity and equity of access to digitalization and required infrastructure remain key challenges. While Internet penetration in the region has been rising, female participation in the digital economy has remained relatively low in general and extremely low in lowincome economies. In addition, there is room to enhance cybersecurity in most Asia-Pacific economies. Regional digital policies should focus on harmonizing data protection protocols and building a safer network of servers that would promote economic activity and enable sensitive matters to be conducted online. Fostering a more inclusive digital transformation may considerably boost network-effects and accelerate the transition to a competitive and sustainable regional digital economy.

Traditionally, sovereign debt problems of developing countries have been discussed mostly at institutions representing the creditors, such as the Paris Club, and at the International Monetary Fund, but they have also been addressed by the United Nations, mostly in the context of its international conferences on financing for development. Although the views of the United Nations on debt are not widely known, they are highly relevant in the post-COVID-19 context, as inflationary pressures could lead to tightened global financial conditions and exacerbate debt vulnerabilities in developing countries. The present paper provides an overview of sovereign debt restructurings from the 1980s, a summary of the debt situation of Asia and the Pacific as a case study and a review of the views of United Nations on debt issues. It also offers suggestions to improve the global debt architecture based on such views by highlighting the importance of linking debt sustainability with sustainable development in debt restructuring workouts and through a hub-and-spoke institutional arrangement to disseminate prudential debt management practices and promote transparency.