With new proposals and development initiatives, the government aims to maintain the momentum of economic growth. There is emphasis on keeping poverty and job losses to a minimum with no new taxes, expansion of social protection schemes, and increase in salaries. Initiatives to protect both formal and informal Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been announced in view of the stresses faced by private enterprises amid COVID-19.
The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SPDI) provides the global sustainable development community with representation from Pakistan as well as South Asia as a whole. This quarterly publication provides Research and News bulletins on current events affecting Pakistan and surrounding South Asian countries.
On top of all the other damage it has done in Indonesia, COVID-19 has hurt tax collection. That's a problem, as the country needs to collect more tax to help fund spending and reduce borrowing needs. Is the next budget too ambitious?
The global financial crisis of 2008 brought the global financial system to a near collapse, taking a devastating toll on global growth and welfare. Determined to prevent, or at least minimise, the probability of another crisis, governments, central banks and financial sector regulators launched a vigorous effort to distil lessons from the crisis and reflect them in public policy. An important component of their reform effort revolved around banking regulation to make banks safe and stable. But policymakers also realised that, while such regulation was necessary, it was not sufficient: the crisis had demonstrated that the financial sector is interconnected and that pressure in any part of the system can rapidly spread and engulf the whole system. It was necessary, therefore, that regulatory reforms encompass the entire financial sector, including non-bank entities and financial markets. Moreover, this could not be an individual country effort; it had to be a globally coordinated effort. This paper aims to explain the economic and political economy dimensions of the important challenges that policymakers confronted as they worked through the reform agenda. It makes a special effort to give an emerging market economy perspective on these global issues.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) is at an advanced stage of conducting pilot studies with its digital currency. What will a digital yuan entail domestically for China, and what concerns and opportunities could it create for ASEAN?
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world economy in 2020. As of December 23, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) reports more than 76 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 1.7 million deaths worldwide. Even more concerning is that these numbers are still growing fast. "The Great Lockdown" due to the pandemic has persisted throughout the year and caused the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The World Trade Organization (WTO) projects a 9.2 percent decrease in the volume of world merchandise trade in 2020 followed by a 7.2 percent increase in 2021, according to the WTO's trade forecast released in October. This revised projection shows a much less severe decline than its previous forecast, which ranged from 13 percent (optimistic scenario) to 32 percent (pessimistic scenario). Swift and enormous policy responses to COVID-19 by many governments with fiscal stimulus supported by expansionary monetary policy might have mitigated the disastrous effects on world trade. Nevertheless, tremendous uncertainty still remains about the strength of the recovery. This special issue of the East Asian Economic Review (EAER) published by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) was designed to address fundamental challenges to the global economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to contribute to policy debates. Contributions were made by distinguished economists across the world on the theme of "The Global Economy after COVID-19: Challenges and Policy Resolutions." The EAER special issue also celebrates the 30th anniversary of KIEP beginning operation.
This article will examine the extent to which Malaysia's largest ever budget can reasonably support the economic recovery expected in 2021 while keeping the deficit and debt levels within prudential limits. The strategies and budgetary measures to build a more resilient economy will be examined in light of the threats and opportunities in the post pandemic 'new normal' landscape. The ability of the budget to sustain the economic recovery in 2021 will be assessed along with the flagging of key risks and challenges facing the country.
Improved tax systems can help countries in Asia and the Pacific generate the resources needed to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. This report provides information on current tax administration practices in the region to help governments identify opportunities to strengthen their tax systems. It analyzes the administrative frameworks, practices, and performance of revenue bodies in 34 economies. The analysis was largely based on survey data gathered by the Asian Development Bank in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Monetary Fund.
Central banks are facing a range of growing challenges that have arisen from recent trends in aging populations, low productivity, and new technology and innovation. Growing Central Bank Challenges in the World and Japan offers insights for central banks looking to tackle the most pressing challenges under the global spotlight, starting with low inflation and its related impacts on unconventional monetary policy and policy coordination, including fiscal stimulus. It also provides important insights into issues related to central bank money, private money, the emergence of crypto assets, and the prospect of central bank digital currency. Part I focuses on examining the persistently low inflation in advanced economies and reviews various unconventional monetary easing tools. It summarizes recent discussions on new monetary policy frameworks that could become alternatives to existing flexible inflation targeting, such as average inflation targeting and price-level targeting, as well as policy coordination, including helicopter money and modern monetary theory. Part II sheds light on issues related to money, crypto assets, and central bank digital currency in advanced and emerging economies. It highlights the global rise in cash in circulation and gives an overview of the recent movements in private money, including bank deposits and e-money payment tools. It also examines the latest developments in crypto assets, including various types of "stablecoins" and Facebook's Libra, reviews central bank digital currency proposals, and discusses the recent views expressed by regulatory authorities while incorporating new perspectives based on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.
ASEAN, the world's fifth-largest economy, is moving towards greater economic integration yet is severely constrained by an expanding digital divide. This divide will only deepen in the Covid-19 pandemic and severely impact ASEAN's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Today, MSMEs account for 99% of businesses in key sectors of most ASEAN economies. MSMEs and underemployed workers are closely connected. To be successful, MSMEs need access to more digitally literate workers. For underemployed workers from rural areas and recent graduates, MSMEs are their best option for future employment. Targeting disadvantaged communities across ASEAN, the Go Digital ASEAN initiative is designed to equip MSMEs and the emerging workforce, particularly those in rural and isolated areas, with digital skills and tools; expand economic opportunity across ASEAN countries; and minimize the negative impact from the Covid-19 crisis. The project will reach up to 200,000 underserved people and rural micro-enterprises across the region, including 60% women and 40% youth (ages 15–35). Leveraging The Asia Foundation's on-ground networks, the initiative will bring critical digital skills training directly to those who need it the most.
As the digital economy continues to evolve, we are seeing a rising call for both balance and fairness. The concerns for an appropriate balance between economic benefits and the preservation of privacy are prompted by the nature of data and its flows. Concerns over fairness arise from taxation disparity between traditional and digital firms. Such concerns have led countries to initiate talks for setting up new rules for digital trade and digital tax. As of today, no digital trade rules are present at the WTO-level ‒ while there is the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) for goods trade and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) for services trade ‒ despite how the current tax system is the subject of wide criticism by countries that are engaged in international trade.
Plans, priorities and public finances must be revised to ensure the Covid-19 virus is contained and the negative impacts of the virus are minimized. The government is responding but the impacts of the pandemic and containment measures are far reaching. New risks have emerged, and many plans, approved by the hluttaw in September 2019, are no longer feasible and may even be dangerous. Government revenues have been impacted by the changed business environment and by government regulation. Essential government entities that rely on own source revenues will require Union government support to continue. Funding for response efforts may be found in cancelled government activities and additional borrowing. Government officials will need to use the full flexibility allowed by the financial management framework to respond quickly. The scale of changes to the budget will likely require an additional supplementary budget. How the government delivers support to people will determine the success or failure of containment measures. The government's commitment to ensuring access to food and medicine should be applauded- though cash may be more efficient.
This article examines how competition authorities and international organizations respond to the unprecedented crisis during COVID-19. This article, then, sketches what challenges we will face for competition policy environments post this current pandemic. Among others, the currently ongoing digitalization would be anticipated to accelerate and demand towards big governments strengthened while globalization more retreated to localization post pandemic. Responding to each of these challenges, this article demonstrates what competition authorities have to prepare and change in the new normal
New Zealand has managed the COVID-19 outbreak with relative success, in terms of containing infection rates and deaths. This has seen New Zealand move down alert levels over the past few weeks as we achieved zero active cases, with restrictions relaxed but the border closed. However, the impact of the outbreak on the economy is undeniable. The effects have also been uneven across the industries, and this will affect the recovery ahead. We assess the policy implications and key considerations for Government spending as we gear up for this recovery.
