The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday predicted that the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the global economy will be between $2,000 billion and $4,100 billion, or 2.3 to 4.8 percent of global GDP.
The Manila-based organization said in a report that the estimates may be underestimated because they do not take into account "potential social and financial crises as well as the impact of the epidemic on health and education systems in the long run."
The number of people with Coved-19 disease on Thursday exceeded the 1 million mark worldwide, while the number of deaths exceeded 52,000.
According to the Bank, asia's growth rate is expected to be 2.2 percent this year, the slowest pace since 1998, when growth did not exceed the 1.7 percent threshold due to the Asian financial crisis.
"No one can predict the magnitude or duration of the Covid-19 pandemic," said Asian Development Bank chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada.
Expectations are that the virus will be under control this year and the situation will return to normal next year, although the possibility of a recurrence of the virus is not ruled out and its level of severity remains unknown.
"The results may be worse than expected, and growth rates will not recover quickly," the report warned.
China's growth rate, Asia's largest economic power, could slow by 2.3 percent this year, up from 6.1 percent in 2019, before recovering in 2021.
According to the report, "the epidemic has caused a demand shock because people are staying at home. This was reflected in a supply-level shock, as companies suffer from a shortage of labour. It is a shortage of materials with the collapse of supply networks."
