According to the World Bank, in 2020, the crisis may have pushed more than 100 million people back to poverty; poverty rates have increased for the first time in the last 25 years, back to levels last seen in 2017.1 What is worse, it is jeopardizing future prospects for poverty reduction by adversely affecting longer-term productivity growth.
Junk bond issuance has picked up notably, and the market for initial public equity offerings has also shown signs of recovery, while investors still appear to be more selective than during the boom in the late 1990s. These four points all suggest that financial conditions are capable of supporting a sustained, healthy pickup in economic growth.