Slow-Healing Scars: The Pandemic’s Legacy

Recessions wreak havoc and the damage is often long-lived. Businesses shut down, investment spending is cut, and people out of work can lose skills and motivation as the months stretch on. But the recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is no ordinary recession. Compared to previous global crises, the contraction was sudden and deep—using quarterly data, global output declined about three times as much as in the global financial crisis, in half the time.

[INFOGRAPHICS] H1’20 Top and Bottom Line of Cement Companies in Nigeria

Nigerian cement companies recorded aggregate growth in their revenues and net income for the half year ended Jun’2020. From our analysis, we highlight that cement volumes actually declined for the companies during the period compared to H1’19 and this is as a result of the social distancing lockdown measures (particularly in April) initiated to combat […]

Next Phase of the Crisis: Further Action Needed for a Resilient Recovery

When G20 finance ministers and central bank governors last met in April, the world was in the midst of the Great Lockdown forced by the outbreak of COVID-19. As they meet virtually this week, many countries are gradually reopening, even as the pandemic remains with us. Clearly, we have entered a new phase of the crisis—one that will require further policy agility and action to secure a durable and shared recovery.

Fiscal Policies for a Transformed World

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has already prompted an unprecedented fiscal policy response of close to $11 trillion worldwide. But with confirmed cases and fatalities still rising fast, policymakers will have to keep the public health response their No. 1 priority while retaining supportive and flexible fiscal policies and preparing for transformational economic change.

Germany: The Troubled Giant

So far in 2020, the industrial giant of EU zone has been badly hit as a result of several factors in the global space, causing further pain for the economy. In January 2020, production activities nosedived, recording a huge decline of about 2.7% year-on-year, blame the total economic lockdown measure against the global pandemic.

What Beer Sales Tell us about the Recession

Craft beer sales are surging at stores, but craft breweries are still struggling. Cheap beer is surging, but it’s still losing market share. That’s because the economics of the beer business are complicated. (And that’s before you start drinking). But the beer business can tell us a lot about the last two recessions.

Reopening from the Great Lockdown: Uneven and Uncertain Recovery

Compared to the April World Economic Outlook forecast, the IMF now projects a deeper recession in 2020 and a slower recovery in 2021. Global output is projected to decline by -4.9 percent in 2020, 1.9 percentage points below our April forecast, followed by a partial recovery, with growth at 5.4 percent in 2021.

The Great Lockdown Through a Global Lens

The Great Lockdown is expected to play out in three phases, first as countries enter the lockdown, then as they exit, and finally as they escape the lockdown when there is a medical solution to the pandemic. Many countries are now in the second phase, as they reopen, with early signs of recovery, but risks of second waves of infections and re-imposition of lockdowns. Surveying the economic landscape, the sheer scale and severity of the Global Lockdown are striking.

Scroll to top