NEFPORT ISSUE 45 – JULY 2021
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY The European Union (EU) has imposed a sanction on a few Chinese officials over their policies regarding the treatment of the Uyghur population, which has subsequently suspended the two nations’ investment deal. On a similar note, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is asking for solidarity from people across the globe by joining the cause and amplifying the protest against Israeli apartheid. Amid the pandemic, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has suggested governments increase inheritance taxes considering the ever-growing wealth inequality. Wales is planning to experiment with universal basic income (UBI) which has been met with mixed reception from the right-wing opposition. Universal Basic Income system tested in Wales: Universal basic
income (UBI) is a system by which the government dispenses a certain amount of money to adult citizens at a regular interval regardless of their needs, ensuring enough for everyone to afford a living. Wales is now testing the water with UBI to see the legitimacy of this policy in delivering its promises of poverty alleviation and improving public welfare. Other countries have also run trials to test the effectiveness of UBI, employing “various versions of the scheme”. For instance, Finland paid 2000 of their unemployed population NPR 79,999 (USD 664.41) per month for two years. While it helped in lessening stress among the cohort, it was nevertheless ineffective in pushing them into employment. Similarly, a 12-year long trial is currently taking place in western Kenya whereby NPR 2,648 (USD 22) per month is
extended to every adult to check the efficacy of UBI in reducing poverty.13 Massive surge in vaccine demand forecasted: Pfizer, on May 4, 2021,
predicted its COVID-19 vaccine sales to reach NPR 3,130.4 Billion (USD 26 Billion), a 70% increase. The forecast has been extrapolated from the existing contracts on vaccine delivery of 1.6 billion doses in this year alone. A total of 2.5 billion vaccine doses are expected to be produced this year by Pfizer and BioNTech, “900 million of which are not yet included in the New York-based drugmaker’s sales forecast”.14
The second wave of COVID-19 hits the Indian economy: The
second wave of coronavirus has thwarted the possibility of India’s economic performance returning to the pre-pandemic level. The growth projection for 2021/22 initially stood at 12 to 13%, which
has been now reduced to 9 to 11% with the onset of the devastating second wave. The labor market has also been severely affected with 7.35 million people losing employment in April alone according to Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE); 2.84 million of them were “rural salaried class”. The lockdowns have further put the job market under massive strain. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme saw an immense surge in job demands with 24.5 million households seeking employment under this scheme.15 Investment agreement comes to a halt: Due to the “tit-for-tat
sanctions” by China and the EU, the investment deal struck between two regions in December 2020 has been subsequently put off. This investment agreement, if materialized, would have opened up “Chinese markets for European investment”, largely
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