COVID-19 stymies poverty alleviation

COVID-19 or the coronavirus that originated from Wuhan in late December 2019 has spread throughout the world infecting more than 5 million people and more than 360,000 people succumbing to the virus. The developed western countries, such as Italy, Spain, France, the UK, and the USA, are the most affected. Recently, Brazil is hit hard by the virus followed by Russia.

The preventive measures adopted by most of the countries of the world have severely affected the global economy. The COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a mere global health crisis, it is also a major labor market and economic crisis. The International Monetary Fund ( IMF) has projected that the world is likely to face the greatest economic downturn after the great depression of the 1930s. IMF (2020) projects that over 170 member countries will experience a negative per capita income growth in 2020.