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Publication details
- Friday | 01 Jul, 2022
- Vaqar Ahmed
- Contributed Chapter Series
- 46
The July 2022 issue of Thinking Aloud focuses on “Global Economic Crisis and Experiences from South Asian Countries”. The article on Bangladesh titled “Global economic slowdown and the Bangladesh economy” analyses the major concerns for the Bangladesh economy and underscores need for making the underlying economic fundamentals stronger to counter the short-term turbulence and achieve the long-term goals. The article highlights that both monetary and fiscal policies need to be linked more specifically to inflation targets and macro stability. The article on Sri Lanka titled, “Five lessons from Sri Lanka’s debt and economic crisis”, assesses the ongoing economic crisis engulfing Sri Lanka and posits key lessons from the external economic shocks and policy missteps which culminated in the current situation. For indebted developing countries, the article recommends timely initiatives for external financing, strengthening safety nets to mitigate poverty and political instability, building effective crisis management capability, devising strong macroeconomic and financial regulatory structure, and conducting honest public communication to avoid the spread of misinformation. The article on India titled, “What are India’s policy challenges in the face of post-COVID reconstruction?” appraises the post-COVID economic challenges for India. It analyses four trends in the global situation which widen the prospect for growth acceleration: re-globalization, rapid formalization of the Indian economy, focus on ‘green structural transformation’, and rapid digitalization taking place in the Indian economy. The article on Nepal titled “Worrying signs in Nepal’s economy”, discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Ukraine crisis on the Nepalese economy. Noting the current dynamics of the economic indicators of Nepal, the article elaborates concerns regarding increasing public debt, rising trade deficit, disruptions in the tourism sector, and rising inflation. The article on Pakistan titled “Pakistan’s Economic Outlook”, analyses the external factors that are putting pressure on the Pakistani economy. Among the external factors, the article identifies the rising global oil and gas prices, uncertain global food and metals prices, and expectations of high food inflation in the short term. Reflecting on the current account deficit, the article examines the vulnerabilities of the government’s fiscal position and discusses the prospect of managing the economic situation in the current geo-political context. The fourth page also provides a glimpse into SANEM’s event on post-budget response 2022-23.