During: The Impact and the Responses

The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a major and unexpected stress test for the economic systems of all countries, including both their MSMEs and their banking and finance sectors. A December 2020 report from the Asian Development Bank on the anticipated impact of COVID-19 on economies in 2020 and 2021 suggests that losses in global GDP will be anywhere between US$ 4.8 trillion and US$ 7.4 trillion in 2020, and between US$ 3.1 trillion and US$ 5.4 trillion in 2021. For developing Asia and the Pacific alone, the respective GDP losses in 2020 will be somewhere between US$ 1.4 trillion and US$ 2.2 trillion, and between US$ 0.8 trillion and US$ 1.4 trillion in 2021 (ADB, 2020a).

Sustainable Development Goals:

No Poverty

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Reduced Inequalities