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18/08/20
From Features
Beyond COVID-19
There is little doubt the Covid-19 pandemic will be considered one of the most significant global events since World War II, which shaped our current global economic and financial order. Now, the future of our financial system is uncertain—however, it is increasingly clear it will not go back to its pre-crisis form. But out of every crisis come opportunities for competitive reinvention and differentiation. IFCs may have been forced to conduct business in a different manner, but they have adapted remarkably well and have even discovered some silver linings in the midst of turbulence.
Back to the ‘New Normal’ future
Covid Reinforces Imperative For IFCs To Collaborate In Fight Against Common Threats
Rebecca Munro
Island economies consultant, Pragmatix Advisory
Mark Pragnell
Pragmatix Advisory
Unprecedented is an overused and all-too-often abused word. It is commonly deployed to describe anything from sporting triumphs through to company financial results or reality television celebrity antics.
Indeed, the severity and nature of the global financial crisis of 2007-9 is often written about as if it were without comparison – even though the 1930s saw a deeper economic retrenchment and there is typically a credit crunch somewhere once every two years.
But, socially, economically and politically, the COVID-19 pandemic is truly unprecedented.
We’ve never before witnessed globally synchronised closure of multiple industries. We’ve never had governments step in so quickly and with such scale to prop up a wide range of private sector businesses and jobs. We’ve not before been subject to such a heavy brake on mobility and personal liberty, at least in the ‘Western world’, outside of wartime. And, we will likely never again see economic ‘growth’ data as bad as in the second quarter of this year – nor will our children.
Reopening The World
Asia And IFCs Are The Key To Economic Recovery
Elise Donovan
BVI Finance
COVID-19 has left an indelible mark on the global economy. With an uncertain economic outlook prevailing, governments around the world are working hard to address the financial ramifications of the pandemic as part of their long-term strategies towards economic recovery.
In her recent speech on navigating the path out of economic uncertainty, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde recalled the words of Abraham Lincoln, who said that “the best way to predict the future is to create it”.
However, against this backdrop, predicting future economic outcomes seems daunting. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that the global economy will contract by 4.9 per cent, take a US$12 trillion hit, and moreover, take at least two years for the world output to return to the same levels as at the end of 2019. Yet, despite this, President Lagarde, like many other world leaders, has advocated for steps that will help the global economy navigate out of the fog of uncertainty and towards a positive vision for what our economies will look like after.
