The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions in the global economy. Economic activity has been hit by reduced personal interaction; uncertainty about the post-pandemic economic landscape and policies has discouraged investment; disruptions to education have slowed human capital accumulation; and concerns about the viability of global value chains and the course of the pandemic have weighed on international trade and tourism.
If history is any guide, unless there are substantial and effective reforms, the global economy is heading for a decade of disappointing growth outcomes. A package of reforms to increase investment in human and physical capital and raise female labor force participation could help avert the expected impact of the pandemic on potential growth in EMDEs over the next decade.
This briefing started with a World Bank presentation on the global economic outlook and the panel discussed possible ways forward so that emerging and developing markets will come stronger out of the pandemic crisis.
Keynote speakers
- Franziska Ohnsorge
Manager of the Development Prospects Group, World Bank - Barbara Marchitto
Head of Division for Country and Financial Sector Analysis, European Investment Bank - Thomas Feige
Head of the Macro-economic Sector of the INTPA E1 Unit, European Commission
Event moderated by San Bilal - Head of the Economic Transformation and Trade Programme, European Centre for Development Policy Management