BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 9
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
The World Bank has updated its Global Economic Prospects for Europe and Central Asia, where Turkmenistan’s expected GDP growth rate for 2021 is 4.0 percent from 0.0 percent in 2020, Trend reports citing the bank’s review.
"Turkmenistan’s external position is projected to deteriorate in 2019–20 but then it will benefit from the expected expansion of natural gas exports. The country’s industrial output is also expected to respond to the government’s export-promotion and import-substitution policies. However, ongoing challenges associated with expatriating profits will discourage strong foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows," said the report.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected Europe and Central Asia through the collapse in global commodity prices, disruptions to global and regional supply chains, and heightened risk aversion in financial markets. The widening of domestic outbreaks of the virus has steepened the decline in domestic demand, exacerbated supply disruptions, and brought much activity to a halt,” the review says.
According to the report, the regional economy will decline by 4.7 percent, and the economic recession will affect almost all region’s countries.
“Economic activity is expected to contract in every sub-region in 2020 as outbreaks of the virus constrain private consumption and investment: Central Europe by 5%; Western Balkans by 3.2 percent; South Caucasus by 3.1 percent; Eastern Europe by 3.6 percent; and Central Asia by 1.7 percent.,” said the report.
The World Bank’s experts say that if the infection continues to spread across the region, it will place an even heavier burden on consumption and investment.
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