Pandemic to Hit Growth in Asia, China: World Bank

Pandemic to Hit Growth in Asia, China: World Bank
A woman stands near a logo of World Bank in Bali, Indonesia, on Oct. 12, 2018. Johannes P. Christo/Reuters
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WASHINGTON—The coronavirus pandemic is expected to sharply slow growth in developing economies in East Asia and the Pacific as well as China, the World Bank said in an economic update on March 30.

The bank said precise growth forecasts were difficult, given the rapidly changing situation, but its baseline now called for growth in developing economies in the region to slow to 2.1 percent in 2020, and to -0.5 percent in a lower-case scenario, compared to estimated growth of 5.8 percent in 2019.