COVID-19 and fiscal stimulus in South Asia: implications for resilience and sustainable development

The world continues to be gripped by COVID-19, though the pandemic's impact varies across countries and regions. The South Asian case is illustrative. The region is marked by inherent socioeconomic and other vulnerabilities, including high population density, relatively poor health care, and limited water sanitation facilities. South Asian countries also evince varied levels of damage from the pandemic. This chapter examines the region's circumstances as of November 2020, using macroeconomic data to explore varied pandemic impacts and fiscal policy responses. We also discuss the COVID-19 fund formed at the South Asian regional level with contributions from all eight South Asian countries. Our analysis includes each country's external and internal share of fiscal stimulus, and the implications for sustainable development goals. In an argument for integrating resilience and development frameworks, the chapter analyzes Japan's example of national resilience planning and related sustainable development frameworks. Our research indicates that a sustainable recovery is advantaged by fiscal stimulus that can be linked to extant developmental frameworks.