Publication: Impacts of COVID-19 on the Private Sector in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations
Date
2020-11
ISSN
Published
2020-11
Author(s)
International Development Association
International Finance Corporation
Abstract
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is
having a significant negative impact on the private sector
in developing economies, and businesses and individuals in
fragile and conflict-affected situations are among the most
severely affected. The pandemic has evolved rapidly from a
health emergency to a global economic crisis, spreading
through the real sector and posing growing risks to
financial systems. Notable sector-level impacts include
supply and demand-based shocks to infrastructure and private
healthcare; disruptions to imports, exports, and global and
local value chains; and declining agribusiness activity that
threatens food insecurity, all leading to financial sector
instability. This note examines these sector-level impacts
and provides recommendations for how the development
community can address them. It advocates, among other
things, for balancing short-term, sector-level relief and
restructuring efforts with planning for a medium-term to
long-term recovery, leveraging upstream interventions to
“Build Back Better,” and collaborating with governments and
development partners. As fragile and conflict-affected
situations face further pandemic-related setbacks on top of
already substantial hardships, it is critical that the
global development community prioritize support to these
vulnerable populations.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“International Development Association; International Finance Corporation. 2020. Impacts of COVID-19 on the Private Sector in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations. EMCompass;Note 93. © International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34857 License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.”
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