Question

The Coronavirus outbreak in China has killed at least 360 people and infected more than 17,300 globally. China authorities rapidly extend the quarantine effort to control the spread of the disease on 24 Jan 2020 to 13 cities with 41 million people. A range of Lunar New Year festivities have been cancelled, while temporary closures of Beijing's Forbidden City, Shanghai's Disneyland and others tourist spots.

Besides of the actions taken by China authorities, The U.S., and governments in Europe and Asia are enforcing new regulations to block visitors from China and screen returning U.S. citizens, while major airlines suspended flights to the country and companies pulled out expatriate executives.

You are required to do the following:

Use evidences to present the impacts of coronavirus on international trade and economic growth in Asia Region.

Propose any relevant public policies which could address this unexpected event.

word count 500

Answer 1

1)

Coronavirus can be seen as a large scale natural disaster. It has impacted the world so much that almost all the economies are closed now as countries are following strict lockdown in order to save the life of the people.

As all the economic activities are on standstill mode, the impact has been felt across all the industries. As we know that Asia has some of the major economies of the world like China and India, this slowdown will impact the global economy. The world is moving towards the biggest crises of all the times. Something which is getting very difficult to tackle. The future of the countries is in tremendous uncertainty.

Industries like airlines, manufacturing, hotel, restaurants are suffering from the greatest economic shocks of all time. As all the activities are on halt, the crude oil price turned negative for the first time in history. According to a Reuters poll, countries like China, which is a world's largest exporter (13%) and second-largest importer (11%), the economic growth rate of China is expected to fall to 2.5%, which is the lowest for the last 50 years. The demand for Chines product has also decreased drastically. According to the World Bank, the economic decline will be 2.3% in Indonesia, 4.6% in Malaysia and 5% for Thailand. The economies are becoming closed which is impacting the lives of millions of people around the globe. The reduction in the urban transaction has lead to a major decrease in the consumption of non-essential goods.

The number of jobless people will increase tremendously as companies are laying off the workforce as a cost-cutting process. As predicted by World Bank 11 million people could fall under the poverty line. The term of trades has changed.

2) It is very important to fight with these kinds of outbreaks which can be a disaster to existence to humankind. The government of all nations should focus on spending more on healthcare policies in order to safeguard the population. The allocation of the budget for the healthcare sector should make sure that the countries are prepared for disasters like these. The government should come up with the financial policies for the poor segment which got hit hardest by the crisis like these, they should not lose their livelihood through no fault of their own.

Giving wage subsidies to people and the companies will help to curb contagion. Like giving paid sick leaves or focus more on work from home policies if an individual is ill. Tax reliefs can be provided to people and small business which can not afford to pay. It's high time for societies to rely more on electronic means to communicate. The governments should extend and expand transfers both cash and in-kind especially for the vulnerable groups. It is very important for countries to become self-sufficient. Halt on export and import activities has destroyed many businesses.