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Growth in the developing East Asia and Pacific region slowed sharply in 2020Q1 because of the negative impact of the Covid-19 on economic activity. The decline has been broad-based reflecting the interconnectedness of the EAP economies and reverberations from the global economy as the virus turned into a pandemic. The Covid-19 outbreak followed an extended period of subdued growth in the region amid multiple external headwinds and heightened trade policy uncertainty. China and other regional economies have implemented monetary and fiscal policy measures to mitigate the negative impact of the outbreak. Growth in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region is projected to slow from 5.8 percent in 2019 to lower-than-expected [5.2 percent in 2020], reflecting the expected negative effects of the COVID-19. In this baseline scenario, which is subject to significant uncertainty, growth in the region is expected to recover to [5.6 percent in 2021], as the impact of Covid-19 gradually dissipates. In the medium-term regional growth is expected to continue its downward trend reflecting multiple structural headwinds. Policymakers should focus on designing economically efficient transmission control policies that consider both the marginal costs and the marginal benefits of preventive measures. Such policies would ideally be based on countries' preparedness and exposure as well as economic circumstances. Targeted fiscal and monetary polices can help reduce the economic disruption caused by COVID-19 in the short term. In the medium-term, there is need to restore depleted buffers, address sources of financial instability, and invest in preventing and coping with infectious disease. Given the growing interdependence between EAP countries, coordinated policies and investments could increase resilience to shocks.

Digital Finance --- Fiscal Buffer --- Growth --- Inrastructure --- Undernutrition

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A year after the first case was confirmed in Wuhan COVID-19 is proving hard to suppress even, while the emergence of more transmissible variants of the variant poses new challenges to the containment of the disease globally. The economies of the region began to bounce back in the second half of 2020. However, only China and Vietnam have followed a V-shape recovery path with output surpassing pre-COVID-19 levels. Most of the other countries have not seen a full-fledged recovery in terms of either output or growth momentum. Economic performance across countries continues to depend on (i) the efficiency with which the virus is contained; (ii) the ability to take advantage of the revival in international goods trade; and (iii) the capacity of governments to provide fiscal and monetary support. China and Vietnam are expected to enjoy strong growth in 2021, whereas other economies in the region will grow more gradually. Many economies, especially in the Pacific islands are not expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels of output until 2022 or later. Governments in the region need to work cooperatively to address three key issues: (i) a regional and global distribution of vaccines that minimizes the risk of a continued spread of COVID-19 and its variants; (ii) continue to provide economic support to their economies while carefully evaluating the trade-offs between the need for further stimulus and debt sustainability; and (iii) enact policies and prioritize investments that protect against climate risk to ensure sustainable economic growth.

Debt --- Digital Finance --- Fiscal Buffer --- Growth --- Inrastructure --- Undernutrition

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Despite some financial turbulence, growth in developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) was resilientduring the first half of 2018. The growth outlook for the region remains positive. After peaking in2017, growth in developing EAP is expected to slow modestly in 2018, as China's economicexpansion continues to moderate. However, downside risks have significantly intensified. Anescalation in trade tensions and heightened financial market turbulence, either due to an accelerationin U.S. monetary policy normalization or contagion from other emerging markets could threaten theregion's growth prospects. To navigate uncertainty, developing EAP economies should reduceshort-term vulnerabilities and enhance buffers, redouble their commitment to an open, rules-basedinternational trade and investment framework, including through deeper regional economicintegration, and deepen structural reforms. The intensification of risks underscores the need tocontinue to enhance economic security by investing in human capital and strengthen socialassistance and insurance programs to increase households' resilience to systemic shocks.

Debt --- Digital Finance --- Fiscal Buffer --- Growth --- Inrastructure --- Undernutrition

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Despite global economic volatility, growth in developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) was resilientduring 2018, and in the first quarter of 2019. The growth outlook for developing EAP is expected tosoften in 2019, as China's economic expansion continues to moderate. Downside risks remain,including expected moderated global demand, continued trade tensions, the risk of a faster-thanexpectedfinancial tightening in developed economies, the risk of weaker-than-expected growth inChina, and continued financial market volatility. Also, or in combination, these risks could weigh on the region's growth prospects in the short-to-medium term. To manage global and regionalheadwinds, developing EAP economies should reduce short-term vulnerabilities and enhance buffers,redouble their commitment to an open, rules-based international trade and investment framework,including through deeper regional economic integration, and deepen structural reforms. Theintensification of risks underscores the need to continue to enhance economic security by investingin human capital and strengthen social assistance.

Debt --- Digital Finance --- Fiscal Buffer --- Growth --- Inrastructure --- Undernutrition --- East Asia --- Pacific Area --- Economic conditions.

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Technology is rapidly changing the way we think about money. Digital payment has been slow to take off in the United States but is displacing cash in countries as diverse as China, Kenya, and Sweden. In Reimagining Money, Sibel Kusimba describes the rise of M-Pesa, and offers a rich portrait of how this technology changes the economic and social landscape, allowing users to create webs of relationships as they exchange, pool, borrow, lend, and share digital money in user-built networks. These networks, Kusimba argues, will shape the future of financial technologies and their impact on poverty, inclusion, and empowerment. She describes how urban and transnational migrants maintain a presence in rural areas through money gifts; how families use crowdfunding software to assemble donations for emergency medical care; and how new financial groups invest in real estate and fund weddings. The author presents fascinating accounts that challenge accepted wisdom by examining the notion of money as wealth-in-people—an idea long-cultivated in sub-Saharan Africa and now brought to bear on the digital age with homegrown financial technologies such as digital money transfer, digital microloans, and crowdfunding. The book concludes by proposing a new theory of money that can be applied to designing better financial technologies in the future.

Digital currency --- Social aspects --- Banking Innovation. --- Development Economics. --- Digital Finance. --- Economic Sociology. --- Financial Inclusion. --- Financial Technology. --- Microfinance. --- Mobile Money. --- Social Meaning of Money. --- Women in Development.