Driven by the United States and China, the world economy will once again see an impressive return this year from the deepest contraction since the Great Depression, economists say.
However, for many developing countries, 2021 is shaping up to look a lot like 2020, with the pandemic still plummeting and poverty growing.
“Here in Washington, DC, people are literally talking about the roaring 1920s and, you know, about letting the doors of the U.S. economy fly,” said Geoffrey Okamoto, first deputy director of the International Monetary Fund. “But the harsh reality is for the poorest countries, as they do not envisage being given vaccines until well into next year,” which means a slower economic recovery and more pain for the poor.
José Luís Rosas, a guide to the ruins of Machu Picchu, Peru, survived 2020 by retiring his pension and moving his two young daughters from private school to public school. Now, with the likelihood that foreign tourists will not return this year, with slow vaccination and a growing infection by Covid-19, Mr. Rosas said he may have no choice but to move his family to his parents ’remote village to grow avocados, mangoes and limes.
“I only work for food, to buy cooking gas, some meat,” he said. “There’s nothing to save; the only thing I’m working on is surviving.”