🎈 Up Big Today: Find today's biggest gainers with our free screenerTry Stock Screener

India’s Fortunes Diverge From Rest of South Asia as Virus Surges

Published 22/09/2020, 06:28
© Reuters.

(Bloomberg) -- South Asia’s biggest economy has been ineffective in stamping out the coronavirus outbreak and it will show up in its economic performance: India is set to lag regional peers in the race to recovery.

The relative success of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in containing the virus will help their economies recover at a faster pace than India, Capital Economics Ltd. said in a report to clients. India is now one of the world’s virus hotspots, with about 5.5 million cases.

“New cases per capita in these three economies are far lower than in India,” said Shilan Shah, senior economist at Capital Economics in Singapore. “This has enabled a faster rebound in activity.”

As a result, the drop in gross domestic product in 2020 will be much less severe in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Whereas, India is expected to post a double-digit slump.

Although per capita testing is higher in India compared to its neighbors, the share of tests coming back positive have fallen in the three neighboring economies, suggesting genuine progress in getting the virus under control, according to Our World in Data figures produced by the University of Oxford and Global Change Data Lab.

“Whatever the reasons, the important point from the economic perspective is that the lower prevalence of cases has meant that containment measures have been scaled back at a quicker pace than in India,” said Shah.

 

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.