Japan Faces Worst Economic Downturn since WW II

The Japanese economy is expected to experience its worst decline since World War II, even though Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell in the first quarter of the current year less than expected.

Banks are doing their part to help, as lending increased at the fastest annual pace ever in May.

Higher rates of lending indicate that the Japanese companies are turning to loans to meet their urgent financing needs amid a sharp drop in sales due to the pandemic of the Coronavirus.

Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said that his country should focus primarily on supporting troubled companies.

He suggested that the Japanese central bank avoid deepening negative interest rates.

Revised data released today, Monday, showed that the third largest economy in the world shrank by 2.2% on an annual basis in the period from January to March 2020, which is less than an initial reading of a contraction of 3.4%.

The data show that Japan has already slipped into recession for the first time in four and a half years, even before the general isolation measures to contain the disease took effect last April.

According to a series of newly released data, which includes exports, factory production and jobs, Japan is facing the worst downturn after the Second World War (WWII) However, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had declared a state of emergency and asked citizens to stay in their homes.

He also ordered companies factories to stop and close.

On the other hand, United Nations (UN) Food Program has warned that the number of hunger stricken in the world may double due to the Coronavirus.

The experts of the program estimated the hunger people this year will reach 265 million people as a result of the deadly virus that was sweeping the world in the course of the last four months.

Aref Hussein, senior expert of the UN program, said that the Coronavirus becomes a disaster to millions of the poor people who are at the stake now.

Revenues of tourism, travel and remittances are expected to decline significantly owing to the restrictions on movement of people between countries and continents across the globe.

On the other hand, Oxfam, a UK non-government charity organization has warned that more than 50 million people in West Africa are exposing to starvation because the destructive impact of the Coronavirus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) renamed the Coronavirus on March 10, as the COVID-19. The pandemic worsen the crises of draught and instability in the western parts of Africa.

Oxfam depends on estimations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECWAS). The African economic group indicated that the hunger-stricken in the area will increase by 200% within the three months to come.

The local people in urban or rural areas suffer from mounting difficulties to access to the markets of food despite the efforts exerted by the governments.

Also prices of food are skyrocketing and some staple food are disappearing from the markets as a result of public lockdown and closing the borders between the African countries to prevent the Coronavirus from more spreading in the region of West Africa.

Oxfam revealed that the countries which face humanitarian crises such as Niger and Burkina Faso, getting food supplies become more difficult. In the two countries thousands of displaced people could not access to food aids. Food growers suffer from problems to get seeds and high-priced fertilizers.