Rwanda Economic Update, January 2021 : Protect and Promote Human Capital in a Post-COVID-19 World
The lockdown, social distancing, and increased costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have reduced output and employment, increased poverty, and depressed trade transactions; in the absence of a strong response by government, output will be lo...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Kigali
2021
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/593761612554686869/Rwanda-Economic-Update-Protect-and-Promote-Human-Capital-in-a-post-COVID-19-World http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35111 |
| Summary: | The lockdown, social distancing, and
increased costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have
reduced output and employment, increased poverty, and
depressed trade transactions; in the absence of a strong
response by government, output will be lower over the next
decade due to COVID-19. The pandemic-driven rise in the
fiscal deficit is increasing public debt, thus exacerbating
existing challenges to sustainability and increasing the
urgency of shifting from large public investments to human
capital development as the main driver of growth. The
government’s rapid response to the pandemic has succeeded in
keeping the population share of new infections and of deaths
well below that of most other countries. However, critical
health services, particularly childhood immunization and
nutrition services, have been disrupted, which is increasing
stunting and preventable diseases. The combination of poorer
nutrition, limited health services, learning losses from
school closures, and the likelihood that some children
(particularly adolescent girls and children from poor
households) may never return to school will reduce incomes
and productivity over the medium term. The government
responded rapidly and effectively to the challenges posed by
the pandemic, putting in place the Economic Recovery Plan
(ERP) to support households and firms, quickly imposing
constraints on mobility to limit the spread of the disease,
ramping up social protection programs, and setting up remote
learning. Key priorities going forward include: (i)
improving the government’s expenditure allocation, financial
management and revenue mobilization; (ii) strengthening the
resilience of the health system and preparing for
administration of a vaccine; (iii) reducing learning losses
(targeting the most vulnerable), improving skills and
strengthening accountability in education; and (iv)
expanding the flagship social safety net program, building
adaptive systems to respond quickly to shocks, improving
poverty targeting of safety net programs, and scaling up the
use of digital payments. |
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