The Covid-19 pandemic has impoverished an additional two million Kenyans, a new report by the World Bank reveals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a growing unemployment, the development is a setback to the poverty reduction efforts made in the last five years. The report, which confirms that Kenya has slipped into a recession, projects that the economy will contract by one per cent this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Treasury says the growth projection for 2020 is 0.6 per cent and not 2.9 per cent as was captured in the Economy Recovery Strategy report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The economy contracted by 5.7 per cent in the second quarter, and it would require a significant growth in the remaining period to offset this decline. That looks highly unlikely, given the current conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The global economy is tipped for a deep recession in 2020, with significant and potentially more prolonged negative spillovers on Kenya,” says the “Kenya Economic Update, November 2020.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n