World Bank: Up to 100 million people in the world could fall into extreme poverty

The World Bank predicted in a new report that the coronavirus crisis could push up to 100 million people into extreme poverty worldwide. According to experts, continued social restrictions will deal a severe blow to the economy, shrinking it by up to 10 percent.

The World Bank has warned in its new report about the biggest blow to the global economy in seven decades.

The World Bank reported on Monday, June 8, that the economic and health crisis that is currently sweeping the world with unimaginable speed following the outbreak of the new coronavirus will ultimately cause a massive economic shock that countries have not experienced in the past seven decades.

According to the Associated Press, the World Bank, in a report titled "World Economic Outlook," predicted that global economic activity would decline by 2.5 percent in 2020. This would be the largest economic downturn since the 13.8 percent recession caused by the aftermath of World War II.

The International Monetary Fund reported in April that the world economy would shrink by three percent this year.

The rate of negative economic growth is, of course, more severe for developed countries than for other countries. In the first group of countries, negative growth reaches 7 percent. In developing countries, this figure will be around 2.5 percent. The problem is that developing countries, due to their higher population growth rates, need more economic growth than developed countries to provide employment and a minimum income for their populations. Therefore, a decrease in growth of every percent of economic growth has much more serious consequences for these countries compared to developed countries.

The economic blow predicted by the World Bank is much more severe than the one recently announced by the International Monetary Fund.

The rise of "extreme poverty" in the world

World Bank experts have also predicted that the number of people facing "extreme poverty" will increase, reaching 70 to 100 million this year, due to the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic on businesses and incomes.

Oil-rich countries are also among the main losers in the slowdown in global economic growth. These countries first faced a sharp drop in oil prices and are now forced to reduce oil prices to stabilize the market for this raw material. However, given the decline in demand, more risks remain on the horizon for these countries.

In the case of Iran, sanctions have effectively reduced the country's oil exports to a small amount, and therefore it is not possible for it to not have access to oil revenues, even if they are reduced. This, along with the consequences of the restrictions imposed to control the coronavirus, has put the Iranian economy in an unprecedentedly bad situation.