From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that over 95 million people entered the ranks of the extreme poor in 2020, most of them women and low-skilled workers.
In a statement obtained from the Fund’s website, it noted that young and low-skilled workers and women remained more heavily affected.
“Uneven recoveries are also occurring within countries as young and low-skilled workers and women remain more heavily affected. Now, because the crisis has accelerated the transformative forces of digitalisation and automation, many of the jobs lost are unlikely to return, requiring worker reallocation across sectors which unfortunately often comes with severe earning penalties” the Fund said. It added that some advanced countries will rebound but slowly.
Although, some countries will experience slow recovery, other economies are expected to rebound this year.
“Other advanced economies, including the euro area, will also rebound this year, but at a slower pace among emerging markets and developing economies. China is projected to grow this year at 8.4 per cent. Now, while China’s economy had already returned to pre-pandemic Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in 2020, many other countries are not expected to do so until 2023.
“Now these diverging recovery paths are likely to create wider gaps in living standards across countries compared to pre-pandemic expectations. The average annual loss in per capita GDP over 2020 to 24 relative to pre- pandemic forecasts is projected to be 5.7 per cent in low income countries and 4.7 per cent in emerging markets. While in advanced economies, the losses are expected to be smaller at 2.3 per cent” the global body, said.
According to IMF, with the advancement in technology which led to the discovery of vaccines, vaccination is expected to power recoveries in many countries later this year (2021).
“Yet even with high uncertainty about the path of the pandemic, a way out of this health and economic crisis is increasingly visible. Thanks to the ingenuity of the scientific community, hundreds and millions of people are being vaccinated, and this is expected to power recoveries in many countries later this year. Economies also continue to adapt to new ways of working, despite reduced mobility, leading to a stronger than anticipated rebound across regions. Additional fiscal support in large economies, particularly the United States, has further improved the outlook.