A trade economist has been appointed as the new World Bank (WB) Country Director for Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
In a news statement, the WB said the appointment of Senegalese national Ndiamé Diop as Country Director for the “most dynamic economies in Southeast Asia” took effect on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, the start of the WB’s fiscal year.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Diop was Practice Manager for Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment for East Asia and the Pacific, providing technical and strategic guidance to the economic team working in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“These are among the most dynamic economies in East Asia with a strong track record of economic reforms and achievements. The economic security of the middle class and the progress in poverty reduction are, however, being seriously threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Diop said.
“I look forward to meeting our partners in government, civil society, the private sector, and development agencies to learn how the bank can help cushion health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic and set the stage for a lasting recovery,” he added.
Diop was also lead economist for Indonesia, leading the economic policy dialogue and the WB’s advisory and development policy lending support for the country.
Earlier in his career, Diop worked also as a lead economist for Jordan and Lebanon and WB Resident Representative for Tunisia.
Diop joined the WB in 2000 as a young professional following the completion of his PhD in Economics in the same year.
The WB Group’s work in the Philippines spans more than seven decades, providing support for infrastructure, as well as engagement in key sectors, including agriculture, social protection, water resources and disaster risk management.
The WB also supports the government’s key economic policy and governance reforms, helps spur private sector growth and promotes peace and development in the Southern Philippines.
Earlier, the WB estimated that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) would contract 1.9 percent this year before rebounding to 6.2 percent next year. In 2022, the World Bank estimates growth will be at 7.2 percent.
WB Philippines Senior Economist Rong Qian said the GDP growth is expected to post its deepest contraction in the second quarter.
The third quarter is still expected to see the economy contract while the last quarter of the year may show “muted recovery.”
In terms of poverty, Qian said the WB’s earlier estimates showed the pandemic is expected to lead to a 3.3-percentage-point increase in poverty.
However, she said, this is on the assumption that the economy stood still for two months and no subsidies, like the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), distributed to vulnerable groups.
Nonetheless, Qian said, poverty is expected to increase this year. The only difficult part is determining the exact poverty incidence rate after the pandemic is over, she said.
The forecast of the WB this year and in 2022 are more optimistic than the government’s outlook. Based on the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC), growth is expected to contract 2 percent to 3.4 percent this year and post a growth of 6 percent to 7 percent in 2022.
The WB has also projected a growth estimate for 2021 at 6.2 percent, while the government targets a growth of 8 percent to 9 percent next year.