More private investments urged as Covid wanes

The International Finance Corp. (IFC) called for a greater push for more private investments in Asia and the Pacific to create jobs and boost output, especially in the outlay-starved infrastructure sector, as the region anticipates the impact of an expected global slowdown.

Economies in the region, including the Philippines, continue to endure the effect of COVID-19 disruptions, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and tightening global financial conditions.

The IFC’s parent firm, the World Bank, said in the January update of its Global Economic Prospects report that weaker global growth and more frequent disruptive weather events linked to climate change threaten to dampen the region’s growth trajectory.

In light of these, the World Bank lowered by 0.2 percentage point its growth forecast for the Philippines in 2023 to 5.4 percent from its 5.6-percent forecast in June 2022.

The World Bank said that the ongoing shortfall in investment in emerging markets and developing economies casts a cloud over all development and climate objectives.

Sluggish investment weakens the rate of growth of potential output, reducing the capacity of economies to increase median incomes, promote shared prosperity and repay debts, the report said.

“With the right policies in place to attract and incentivize new investment, countries can leverage private sector financing to help meet their large unmet investment needs,” said Riccardo Puliti, newly installed IFC vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. INQ