Washington, DC – Recent
1. B-ROLL: Exterior IMF

Washington, DC --- 21 October 2020
2. Wideshot news conference
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jonathan Ostry, Deputy Director IMF Asia Pacific Department:
“The Asia Pacific region has been hit hard by the pandemic. You've seen our projections with regional growth at minus 2.2 percent. 2020 will be remembered as the most severe contraction in generations.”
4. Wideshot news conference
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jonathan Ostry, Deputy Director IMF Asia Pacific Department:
“Inequality in Asia had been rising even before the crisis, and the pandemic is hitting those at the bottom even harder than the rest. The limited reach of social safety nets and large size of informal sectors is proving to be a roadblock to supporting the most vulnerable at this critical time. Robotization, which is already well advanced in Asia, may displace even more lower skilled workers. Going forward. The resulting higher levels of inequality could even lead to social unrest itself, an obvious impediment to sustained economic growth.”
6. Wideshot news conference
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jonathan Ostry, Deputy Director IMF Asia Pacific Department:
“For 2021, our projection of 6.9 percent growth is slightly stronger than we had in June. But in combination with the deep recessions this year, it nevertheless implies that a number of economies will still be smaller at the end of 2021 than before the pandemic.”
8. Wideshot news conference
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jonathan Ostry, Deputy Director IMF Asia Pacific Department:
“Economic scarring seems a near stern certainty at this point. Our projections suggest that potential output by the middle of this decade could be some five percent lower than before the pandemic due to the fall in labor force participation and weak confidence that dims private investment.”
10. Wideshot news conference
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jonathan Ostry, Deputy Director IMF Asia Pacific Department:
“A lot of the exports of China, however, are very specifically related to medical equipment and home electronics. The things that are really being used by the world as a whole during the pandemic. And, you know, the half-life of these exports is probably pretty short. The demand for lots of medical equipment and lots of home electronics will eventually peeter out.”