Asia’s economy encounters “headwinds”

Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf, acting director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific division, said on April 20 that Asia’s growth outlook for 2022 had been downgraded by half a percentage point to 4.9. % compared with an estimate of 5.4% in January.

In its “World Economic Outlook” report released on April 19, the IMF also lowered its growth forecast for China’s economy to 4.4%, lower than the previous estimate of 4.8. % and lower than the target set by China of 5.5%.

Ms. Gulde-Wolf told CNBC that inflation is a problem in many countries as commodity prices climb.

A truck transports new Tesla cars at a factory in Shanghai, China. Photo: REUTERS

Follow the channel Al Jazeerawhile central banks in North America, Europe and other Asian countries are raising interest rates to curb high inflation, China is implementing monetary policy easing measures to promote economic growth. chief.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced to maintain the basic lending rate for businesses and households, a surprise move that shows that Beijing remains cautious about easing monetary policy even when the Covid-19 epidemic and the crisis in Ukraine affected economic growth. Specifically, the basic interest rate for a one-year loan is at 3.7% and the 5-year interest rate is at 4.6%.

In addition, Chinese authorities are taking steps to strengthen supply chains affected by strict blockade measures, including creating a “white list” of companies that can resume production and operations. .

The Chinese government selects enterprises from different sectors that are assessed as strategically important to the economy and society and exempts certain restrictions.

According to Shanghai government policy, the 666 businesses on the “white list” must meet certain requirements, including key employees staying at the production site to avoid contact with outsiders and reduce risks. risk of disease transmission.

By allowing key manufacturers to operate as normally as possible, China is working towards mitigating the impact of the lockdown measures. Electric car company Tesla (USA), on the “white list” of 666 businesses, resumed production at its Shanghai factory on April 19 after being closed for more than three weeks.

In an optimistic development, Shanghai on April 20 announced that it had not recorded any new cases of Covid-19 outside the blockade areas in 2 districts. Shanghai city health official Wu Qianyu also said that the epidemic situation in the city in recent days has tended to decrease and the spread of the disease in the community has been effectively controlled.