UN warns Myanmar is on the brink of economic disaster due to coup, Covid-19

The United Nations on Thursday warned Myanmar that it is on the brink of economic disaster due to the double shock of the military coup and COVID-19 pandemic.

Citing a new UN Development Program (UNDP) report, CNN reported that almost half of Myanmar’s population could be forced into poverty by the end of this year. As per the report, if the security and economic situation does not stabilize soon, up to 25 million people, 48 per cent of Myanmar’s population, could be living in poverty by 2022.

Rising food costs, significant losses of income and wages, the crumbling of basic services such as banking and health care, and an inadequate social safety net is likely to push millions of already vulnerable people below the poverty line of USD 1.10 a day — with women and children among the hardest hit.

Myanmar was hit with the double shock of the coronavirus pandemic and Myanmar’s military coup.

Lockdowns and containment measures disrupted supply chains, so businesses — especially in retail, manufacturing and exports, as well as smaller businesses, market sellers, hairdressers and tailors — suffered. By December last year, more than 420,000 migrant workers had returned home.

Urban poverty is expected to triple as the towns and cities have been hardest hit by COVID-19 and remain the focus of the most severe military crackdowns, reported CNN.

According to the study, women and children will bear the heaviest brunt. Myanmar already has high child poverty rates and the combined crises are “putting an entire generation in peril”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.

Moreover, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding as a result. The UN World Food Program last week warned “hunger and desperation” are rising in Myanmar and predicted that up to 3.4 million people will be suffering across the country in the next six months.

“Overall, Myanmar is on the brink of economic collapse and risks becoming Asia’s next failed state,” the UNDP report said.