2021 was tagged the year of return to normalcy, and we highlighted that growth across countries would remain uneven due to differing wealth of nations. Large swathes of that forecast have proven to be right. The forecast that more affluent countries would recover stronger from the pandemic never appeared more accurate, thanks to the combination of accommodative fiscal and monetary policies. Although the global economy’s outlook appears greener, global expansion remains heavily dependent on successfully overcoming the Covid-19 health crisis, as the virus remains a threat. As of the time of writing, there have been 169,597,415 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,530,582 deaths, as reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO). A 3rd wave of the pandemic, led by a new, more-infectious “Delta” variant, has emerged in various pockets of the globe, prompting the reintroduction of lockdowns. Furthermore, while the vaccination story has been largely positive, vaccination rates remain broadly uneven across regions. Despite 3.6 billion vaccine doses administered globally, only one in ten people in lower-income countries have received at least a dose of the vaccine.
