IMF Country Focus

• Five Charts That Illustrate COVID-19’s Impact on the Middle East and Central Asia

  July 16, 2020

  

  The Middle East and Central Asia countries acted quickly and decisively in response to COVID-19. Despite their efforts, the pandemic has inflicted heavy economic damage on the region. Growth projections have been revised down since the April 2020 Regional Economic Outlook, the IMF says in its latest update to the report.

• Egypt Takes Proactive Approach to Limit the Pandemic’s Fallout

  July 9, 2020

  

  As part of Egypt’s two-step request for IMF financing to respond to COVID-19, $5.2 billion was approved under the 12-month Stand-by Arrangement (SBA).  Financing under the SBA follows the $2.8 billion approved in May under the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument. 

• Six Charts on Myanmar's Economy in the Time of COVID-19

  July 7, 2020

  

  A frontier economy, Myanmar experienced rapid growth as it opened up in the 2000s, with GDP growth rates among the highest in Asia. However, growth had already been slowing when the coronavirus shock hit in early 2020.

• Paraguay Beats the Pandemic and Seeks New Growth

  July 2, 2020

  

  Paraguay acted forcefully against COVID-19 and succeeded in containing the pandemic with very few cases and casualties. But the economic impact has been harsh: GDP is forecast to shrink 5 percent this year. As it seeks to revive growth, the country is also undertaking reforms to improve governance and business climate. 

• Combating the Impact of COVID-19 in Montenegro

  July 2, 2020

  

  Like many tourism-dependent countries, Montenegro has been hit hard from the effects of COVID-19. On June 24, 2020, the Balkan country received an emergency loan worth $83.7 million under the IMF’s Rapid Financing Instrument to help its economy weather the economic disruption caused by the collapse of tourism and to support higher health spending.

• Vietnam's Success in Containing COVID-19 Offers Roadmap for Other Developing Countries

  June 29, 2020

  

  Vietnam has so far shown strength and stability in weathering the COVID-19 storm and offers a successful example of how a developing country can fight a pandemic. While its economy has suffered a significant blow due to weakened demand and reduced trade, the effective containment strategy should allow for a quicker rebound.

• Six Charts that Show Sub-Saharan Africa’s Sharpest Economic Contraction Since the 1970s

  June 29, 2020

  

  Economic activity this year will be significantly lower than projected in the April 2020 Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. Real GDP is now forecast to contract by 3.2 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, double the contraction envisaged in April.

• Digitalizing Sub-Saharan Africa: Hopes and Hurdles

  June 15, 2020

  

  Across sub-Saharan Africa, digital technologies are driving change—from kids learning to code outside Niger’s capital, to drones delivering medicines to remote communities in Sierra Leone. This is all helping to build resilience.

• Kurzarbeit: Germany’s Short-Time Work Benefit

  June 15, 2020

  

  The COVID-19 pandemic has generated renewed interest in short-time work programs—the state-sponsored work-sharing schemes aimed at saving jobs. Kurzarbeit, Germany’s short-time work program, is widely considered the gold standard of such programs.

• Helping Bangladesh Recover from COVID-19

  June 12, 2020

  

  One of the most densely populated countries in the world, Bangladesh exemplifies the triple blow that many emerging market countries have suffered from COVID-19: domestic slowdown caused by the disease and the efforts to contain its spread; a sharp decline in exports, particularly in the ready-made garment sector, and a drop in remittances. Its once robust economy has dramatically slowed in recent months.

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