Source: http://ift.tt/eKERsB - Monday, December 01, 2014
Washington (AFP) - The World Bank said Tuesday that the fallout from the deadly Ebola pandemic will push Guinea and Sierra Leone into recession next year. With the disease still not under control in West Africa, the cost to the two countries plus less-impacted Liberia of shuttered businesses and curtailed investment will run "well over" $2 billion in 2014-2015, the Bank said in a new report. Governments in the three countries, where most of the nearly 6,000 deaths from the Ebola outbreak have occurred, have already seen their finances hit to the tune of around $500 million this year. That has forced cutbacks to official spending for investment and services, on top of pullbacks by foreign investors and visitors frightened by the spread of the virus. "The epidemic is not yet under control. Containment, combined with a full-fledged financial recovery effort to restart business activity and bring back investors, are now both therefore urgently needed for the region to improve on the downbeat forecasts," the Bank said. The report revised less dire growth forecasts made only in October, when officials optimistically thought the disease could be controlled by the end of the year. Liberia's economy is now projected to grow only about 2.2 percent this year, compared to 5.9 percent projected before the outbreak. More than half of people surveyed in the county say they are no longer working in their latest job, compared to 40 percent in Oct
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Washington (AFP) - The World Bank said Tuesday that the fallout from the deadly Ebola pandemic will push Guinea and Sierra Leone into recession next year. With the disease still not under control in West Africa, the cost to the two countries plus less-impacted Liberia of shuttered businesses and curtailed investment will run "well over" $2 billion in 2014-2015, the Bank said in a new report. Governments in the three countries, where most of the nearly 6,000 deaths from the Ebola outbreak have occurred, have already seen their finances hit to the tune of around $500 million this year. That has forced cutbacks to official spending for investment and services, on top of pullbacks by foreign investors and visitors frightened by the spread of the virus. "The epidemic is not yet under control. Containment, combined with a full-fledged financial recovery effort to restart business activity and bring back investors, are now both therefore urgently needed for the region to improve on the downbeat forecasts," the Bank said. The report revised less dire growth forecasts made only in October, when officials optimistically thought the disease could be controlled by the end of the year. Liberia's economy is now projected to grow only about 2.2 percent this year, compared to 5.9 percent projected before the outbreak. More than half of people surveyed in the county say they are no longer working in their latest job, compared to 40 percent in Octfrom Top News on RSS Feeds http://ift.tt/1rQPI6O
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