COVID 19, a new coronavirus disease, was first identified in Wuhan, China in January 2020. This has resulted in slow business activity throughout the world, indicating a global recession. The global scenario is still evolving, where lockdowns in some countries are stronger than others. The economic and financial impact is likely to be varied in different countries, primarily depending on their respective
strategies to respond to COVID 19. However, all major multi and bilateral institutions have come up with some form of evaluation to measure the impact of COVID 19 on the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting a negative (-3) global growth in 2020. (Figure 1). The World Banks’ conservative estimates suggest that GDP will decrease by 2 percent for the global economy and by 2.5 percent for developing countries. In a more elaborate estimate, the World Bank suggests an almost 4 percent decrease in global GDP (Detailed Table in Annexure A). The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates regional growth (developing Asia) at 2.2 percent, a decrease by almost 3.3 percent as compared to estimates of growth provided in September 2019 (5.5 percent).