Fed by the US and China, the global economy will make an astonishing comeback this year from the deepest depression since the Great Depression, economists say.
For many developing countries, however, 2021 is shaping up to resemble 2020, with the pandemic still unleashing growing poverty.
“Here in Washington, DC, people are literally talking about the Roaring 1920s and, you know, letting the doors fly out of the US economy,” said Geoffrey Okamoto, the first deputy director general of the International Monetary Fund. “But the harsh reality is for the poorest countries, they do not look at the vaccines that will be delivered until next year,” which means slower economic recovery and more pain for the poor.
José Luís Rosas, a guide to the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, survived in 2020 by retiring and transferring his two young daughters from private school to public school. Now, with foreign tourists unlikely to return this year, with a slow rise in vaccination and growing Covid-19 infections, Mr Rosas said he might have no choice but to move his family to the village. away from his parents to grow avocado, mango and lime.
“I only work to eat, to buy cooking gas, some meat,” he said. “There’s nothing to save – the only thing I’m working on is to survive.”