Subdued growth in Asia-Pacific in 2020

Citing the protracted impact of the Covid-19 outbreak in China, Moody’s Investor Services has lowered its growth forecast for the Asia-Pacific region to 5.2% for 2020. The demand for Asian exports has taken a hit owing to the outbreak of Covid-19 and has caused supply chain disruptions that are set to slowdown growth across the Asia Pacific. The report mentioned about the falling growth in China — 5.2% in 2020 from 5.8% projected earlier — and India, whose GDP is estimated to expand by 5.4% this year from 6.6% projected earlier. India is already facing the repercussions of a tepid demand. Further, the Thai economy is also not in a good shape. It also said that the outbreak will have an impact on overall growth which will be felt primarily through trade and tourism, and for some sectors through supply-chain disruptions.