ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis. The pandemic poses a significant threat to human security and existing developmental challenges, compelling emergency spending on saving lives and securing livelihoods. Despite being in the ongoing traumatic phases of the global pandemic, the world is further expected to face undue developmental challenges due to the fourth industrial revolution and climate change. In a massive effort to save the global economies and protecting livelihoods, national governments had been obliged to announce stimulus (fiscal) packages and create local and regional funds to boost up domestic production and ensure food, water, and energy security. This chapter intends to provide a broader overview of the implications of fiscal stimulus toward sustainable recovery and address post-COVID-19 developmental challenges in a cross-country setting. Although expectantly incentivizing through fiscal policies will mobilize food security, public health, climate security and environment, migrant worker and urban resilience, gender, education, and facilitate attainment of the respective sustainable development goals (SDGs);sustainable recovery could largely vary based upon national resilience and the extant developmental framework. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer 2022.
ABSTRACT
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. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.