dc.contributor.author	World Bank
dc.date.accessioned	2020-12-16T21:37:33Z
dc.date.available	2020-12-16T21:37:33Z
dc.date.issued	2020-12-14
dc.description.abstract	The pandemic has induced a sharp recession in many countries across the globe. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has caused an unprecedented shock to the global economy and led to an expected overall contraction of 4.4 percent in 2020. Advanced economies are projected to shrink by 5.8 percent and emerging and developing economies by 3.3 percent. With large uncertainty about wide and affordable access to vaccines, the outlook for 2021 is for a modest recovery of 5.2 percent. Malawi’s economy has been heavily affected, with growth projected at 1.0 percent in 2020, down from earlier projections of 4.8 percent. With population growth around 3.0 percent, this represents a 2.0 percent contraction in per capita GDP. Political stability has returned following the June 2020 Presidential elections, which should support investment. However, global and domestic factors emanating from the pandemic are affecting Malawi’s economy, including: 1) disruption in global value chains and trade and logistics; 2) decrease in tourism; and 3) decrease in remittances. This has combined with social distancing policies and behavior to also reduce domestic demand. Lower international oil prices, on the other hand, have helped reduce the import bill and alleviated fuel and transportation price pressures. Services and industry sectors have been particularly hard hit, leading to a heavier impact in urban areas. The travel and accommodation, tourism, and transport sectors have been substantially affected. Wholesale and retail trade, as well as manufacturing and construction activity declined due to disruptions in sourcing materials and subdued demand. However, favorable weather conditions supported a strongagricultural harvest, particularly for maize, which is supporting growth and food security. Yet, production of key export crops, particularly tobacco, have declined. Poverty reduction in Malawi has stagnated in the last 15 years and is expected to worsen with the pandemic. An estimated 12 percent of the economically active population have experienced job losses due to the crisis. Although this labor market impact is moderate compared to some other countries in the region, this comes after more than 15 years of Malawi’s poverty rate stagnating at high levels. Poverty has declined more slowly in Malawi than the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. Malawi’s poverty rate based on the 1.90 US Dollars threshold has declined by 3 percentage points from 2004 to 2016, from 73.4 to 70.3 percent. This compares to an 11 percentage point drop for Sub-Saharan Africa, from 53.2 to 42.3 percent. The current account deficit is projected to expand to 19.6 percent of GDP in 2020, up from 17.8 percent in 2019. Exports and imports have been affected by transport disruptions and lockdowns in major trading partners, as well as lower international oil prices. Despite the decline in imports, the drop in key exports, particularly tobacco, is expected to be even greater. Moreover, the downturn in the global economy has also reduced the inflow of remittances by 30 percent for the year through October compared to last year.	en
dc.identifier	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/697811607978316710/Malawi-Economic-Monitor-Doing-More-with-Less-Improving-Service-Delivery-in-Energy
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/34931
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/34931
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	World Bank, Lilongwe
dc.rights	CC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subject	ECONOMIC GROWTH
dc.subject	ECONOMIC RECESSION
dc.subject	CORONAVIRUS
dc.subject	COVID-19
dc.subject	PANDEMIC IMPACT
dc.subject	POVERTY
dc.subject	HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT
dc.subject	MAIZE PRICE
dc.subject	FISCAL TRENDS
dc.subject	DEBT BURDEN
dc.subject	MONETARY POLICY
dc.subject	ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
dc.subject	SERVICE DELIVERY
dc.subject	ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY
dc.subject	ACCESS TO WATER
dc.subject	STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES
dc.subject	PUBLIC UTILITIES
dc.title	Malawi Economic Monitor, December 2020	en
dc.title.subtitle	Doing More with Less - Improving Service Delivery in Energy and Water	en
dc.type	Report	en
dc.type	Rapport	fr
dc.type	Informe	es
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.crossref.title	Malawi Economic Monitor, December 2020
okr.date.disclosure	2020-12-15
okr.date.doiregistration	2025-05-07T10:06:01.478825Z
okr.doctype	Economic & Sector Work
okr.doctype	Economic & Sector Work::Economic Updates and Modeling
okr.docurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/697811607978316710/Malawi-Economic-Monitor-Doing-More-with-Less-Improving-Service-Delivery-in-Energy
okr.guid	697811607978316710
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum	090224b0880ceebf_1_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum	32668214
okr.identifier.report	155043
okr.imported	true	en
okr.language.supported	en
okr.pdfurl	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/697811607978316710/pdf/Malawi-Economic-Monitor-Doing-More-with-Less-Improving-Service-Delivery-in-Energy.pdf	en
okr.region.administrative	Africa
okr.region.administrative	Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE)
okr.region.country	Malawi
okr.topic	Health, Nutrition and Population::Disease Control & Prevention
okr.topic	Macroeconomics and Economic Growth::Business Cycles and Stabilization Policies
okr.topic	Macroeconomics and Economic Growth::Economic Growth
okr.topic	Macroeconomics and Economic Growth::Fiscal & Monetary Policy
okr.topic	Poverty Reduction::Employment and Shared Growth
okr.topic	Poverty Reduction::Poverty and Health
okr.topic	Public Sector Development::Public Sector Management and Reform
okr.unit	Malawi Office

Publication: Malawi Economic Monitor, December 2020: Doing More with Less - Improving Service Delivery in Energy and Water

Files

Original bundle

License bundle

Collections

Publication:
Malawi Economic Monitor, December 2020: Doing More with Less - Improving Service Delivery in Energy and Water