The World Trade Organization has elevated its forecast for the growth of the global merchandise trade this year, with expectations that there are risks associated with the distribution of Coronavirus vaccines and the possible emergence of vaccine-resistant strains.
"The vaccines gave the world an opportunity to curb the disease and cast a lifeline for the economy, but this opportunity may dissipate if vaccines are not available to large numbers of countries and citizens," said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization.
She added: "I think we must avoid acting the same during the next pandemic, so that poor countries should not queue to get vaccinations, as there are already indications of differences between regions."
The organization expects merchandise trade to grow by 8 percent this year after a decline of 5.3 percent last year, while growth is expected to be 4 percent in 2022. The organization indicated that there are risks in the short term and that they are concentrated in the factors associated with the pandemic.
According to the organization, the acceleration of vaccine distribution activity and the faster disposal of lockdown measures may add 2.5 percentage points to the growth of trade, but the organization adds that trade growth will decline to about two percentage points if the distribution of vaccines slows down and new strains emerge.
Source (CNBC Arabic Website, Edited)
