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COVID-19 will push Pakistan into major recession: World Bank

PAKISTAN may fall into a recession due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, and the economy might shrink 2.2 per cent, a World Bank report has said.

It also predicted a steep fall in per capita income.


The total death in Pakistan due to COVID-19 has touched 100 on Tuesday (14) with 5,812 patients.

Earlier, the global body had estimated that the country would grow one per cent in 2019-20.

The World Bank projected a decline in Pakistan's national output in the range of 1.3 to 2.2 per cent.

“Pakistan, which has already experienced low growth rates in recent years, could well fall into a recession”, noted the report. With 1.8% population growth, that would imply a painful decline in per capita income, it added.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Imran Khan has admitted that Pakistan was a nuclear state but it was strange that it could not make its own ventilators and test kits and had to import them.

Pakistan has a population of 212 million.

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