“Pakistan, which has already experienced low growth rates in recent years, could well fall into a recession”, noted the report. The horrifying forecast by the World Bank requires an urgent coordinated response from the federal government and the State Bank of Pakistan that are responding to the crisis in a fragmented manner. Pakistan is among Maldives, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan whose GDP growth forecast for this fiscal year is in negative territory. “South Asia is in a perfect storm”, said Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief Economist for the South Asia Region while speaking from Washington through an audio link. In contrast, the State Bank of Pakistan had maintained a tight monetary in 2019 to defend the exchange rate but has since lowered rates in response to COVID-19.

Source: The Express Tribune April 12, 2020 05:15 UTC