ADB report paints disconsolate picture of Pakistan’s economy
With the current dire state of the crippling economy, Pakistan has now become the most expensive country with the highest living cost in the whole of Asia.
India reported 12,380 cases of coronavirus on Thursday, including 10,477 active cases, 414 deaths and 1,488 recoveries. Maharashtra has emerged as the worst-hit state with nearly 3,000 cases now and 295 deaths. The government has identified 170 districts across the country as COVID-19 ‘hotspots’ or ‘red zones’, and another 207 districts as ‘potential hotspots’.
The Ministry of Home Affairs announced lockdown relaxation from April 20 on a range of activities in the rural and agriculture sector, manufacturing in SEZs and industrial zones, and in e-commerce. Strict restrictions will, however, continue in COVID-19 containment zones notified by the respective states.
Meanwhile confirmed cases worldwide crossed 2 million as the latest numbers from Johns Hopkins University put the confirmed global total of cases at 2,063,161. The researchers say at least 136,938 people have died since the start of the outbreak.
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The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, Asia’s economic growth this year will come to a halt for the first time in 60 years, as the coronavirus crisis takes an “unprecedented” toll on the region’s service sector and major export destinations.
The US reported more than 25,000 new cases on Thursday as Washington’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 605,390 cases of coronavirus, an increase of 26,385 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths has risen by 2,330 to 24,582, reports The Guardian.
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