Much of the progress achieved in recent years in education, health, and poverty eradication has been halted or reversed by the COVID-19 pandemic, says the Economic Commission for Africa.
Hopestone Chavula, Officer-in-Charge, Macroeconomic Analysis Section, Macroeconomics and Governance division of the ECA, stated this at the ongoing 39th ECA Committee of Experts of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
The event, holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was monitored through a webinar on Thursday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes Chavula as saying that fiscal deficits of African countries had widened due to increased governments’ expenditure to halt the spread of the pandemic, with many more countries at risk of debt distress.
He, however, maintained that accommodative monetary policies had been employed to cushion the negative effects of the pandemic on economic activity despite inflationary pressure in some…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
