The Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecast said that economic recovery in the Asia Pacific region will be “swoosh-shaped” in 2021. Furthermore, it warned that additional restrictions to combat the pandemic may hinder the region’s return to growth.
Developing Asia is predicted to contract in 2020, the first time in almost 6 decades. The 0.7% decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the June estimate of 0.1% growth marks “the first regional GDP contraction since the early 1960s”.
GDP growth projection for next year is 6.8%, which is considered “substantially smaller” than the forecast pre-pandemic.
“Thus, the regional recovery will be L-shaped or ‘swoosh-shaped’ rather than V-shaped,” said ADB, also noting the prolonged pandemic threatens this view.
ADB warned that reimplementing tough restrictions could impede the recovery and even cause “financial turmoil”.