Developing economies in Asia will contract in 2020, the first such downturn in nearly 60 years, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday in an update to its forecasts.
The update of the ADB’s outlook estimates the regional economy will contract 0.7% this year, recovering to 6.8% growth in 2021.
Conditions could deteriorate further, however, if the coronavirus pandemic worsens significantly, the regional lender said. The update downgrades growth estimates for many countries in the region, where outbreaks of coronavirus have surged in some countries, such as the Philippines and Indonesia.
The report said that China, where the pandemic began, has already begun to recover and will see its economy grow 1.8% this year and 7.7% in 2021.