The Covid-19 pandemic has brought economic activity to a halt in an increasing number of countries. This brake had international repercussions with the fall of internal and foreign trade. The current situation has had a profound impact on all types of businesses. With the temporary shutdown of some companies and the slowdown of activities for others, the consequences of this pandemic are harmful for the world economy. As quarantine measures continually reduce economic activities, economists predicted a 30% drop in consumption and an unemployment level reaching around 12,8%, as well as a drop in investment and household income. However, the impact of the virus on the economy is difficult to quantify and all countries faced an extraordinary uncertainty about the depth and duration of this crisis. Covid-19 threatens today not only people’s lives, but also their sources of income.

Between a health and economic crisis, the world is living a real ordeal passing through the commercial sector which endures a significant drop in trade (import and export) with 13% currently and 32% for the coming months. After the crisis experienced in 2008, the world economy opened its doors to each other to revive a perfect globalization, the covid-19 comes in this case to change things once again. This latter did not neglect the financial market with the creation of a financial storm causing the value of the shares to fall. How can this fall be explained? Firstly, as being a major or very influential element, the decline is explained by uncertainty, the markets abhor uncertainty, this doubt is simply the consequence of this pandemic; can the world predict the end of this pandemic? No response can be predicted.

Second major problem is related to the non-stability of the interest rate, a means on which the banks were relying to revive the financial sector is in sharp decline, which no longer allows the authorities to revive the economy, this is similar to entering to another world war signaling the protectionism animated by the United States that proves once again its egoism vis-à-vis other countries and more precisely China, its major competitor which is at the origin of the pandemic but also the Latin American and even its allies the European countries.

The logistics sector could not escape this crisis, and it is going through its most difficult moments, with the blocking of flight blockades and containment measures that are spreading worldwide, transport companies are encountering certain difficulties. A return to normal is not expected before 2021, or even 2022. For road transport, the confinement and closure of factories and shops have led to the stopping of most trucks and even to partial unemployment for their employees. Aside from food transportation, most companies have reported a drop in activity since containment, according to the National Road Transport Federation. For maritime transport, most countries in the world note that the activity of the main ports is generally normal. Except that incoming vessels must be identified according to their origin. The disruptions in maritime travel due to the health crisis have serious consequences for world trade. And that is measured by hundreds of thousands of containers. For air transport, it is considered among the first victims of Covid-19. It is noted that it suffers from the precautionary measures applied and the drop in demand. Since the beginning of April, most airlines around the world have been almost stopped. Air transport had not experienced such a slowdown for a long time. And in this situation, airlines around the world have turned to their governments. Several governments have announced strong measures, such as deferring the payment of taxes and fees for a specified period. Or grant direct aid to pay wages and pensions.

Tourism too has had its share of the poisoned cake: canceled trips, reservations, events and concerts, closed travel agencies and a lot of other damages. Asian tourism was naturally the first to be impacted and experienced huge losses in bookings since the virus first spread in China, particularly in Whuhan, an economic drama for these countries, since they live a lot from tourism, European countries have also been affected by this epidemic and therefore have also experienced a fall in the tourism sector, particularly in France, Italy and Spain which have become countries deserted by tourists. A concern which has also been pierced in Arabic countries who directly stopped the flights and closed the borders in order to avoid any sign of vulnerability and limit the intensive spread of the virus, and it is not just about travel but also the most important events, professionals meetings, public forums, etc. This stopped certain companies, or even prohibited them from performing their normal activities which brought down the economy of the countries.

Revenues from global tourism due to the Coronavirus have dropped to at least $ 22 billion and this is only the optimistic scenario because if the epidemic continues to spread for a long time it will cause a loss of up to 73 billion dollars and a drop in revenues for airlines of $ 30 billion. With all the efforts made by the governments of each country and the permanent presence of a sector which does not belong to the economy but makes enormous sacrifices to save humanity, which is the most important thing currently in all these difficult conditions that the world endures. When will the world see the light of day? When will the world economy once again blow out its candles not for birthday but for peace, cheerfulness and liveliness?

#STAY_HOME #STAY_SAFE

Authors :

• NAAOUI Wassima
• NAJI Rajaa
• NAJEM Salma
• NAJEH Amal
• NAHIL Youssef

References

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_on_tourism
• https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/03/11/coronavirus-travel-industry-could-lose-24-billion-in-tourism-from-outside-us.html
• https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/impact-covid-19-global-supply-chains
• https://www.iru.org/resources/newsroom/covid-19-where-road-transport-stands
• https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/the-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-shipping