Shivalik
Canada’s national statistical agency warned that the country may have experienced a record drop in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a result of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
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Statistics Canada (StatCan), has estimated an 11 per cent decrease in the real GDP for the month of April, following a 7.2 per cent drop in March. Real GDP is the gross domestic product corrected for inflation. Although the data stated for April s based on preliminary information and will be revised once the final data is available. StatCan stated, “Nonetheless, the March and April decreases are likely to be the largest consecutive monthly declines on record.”
It noted that 19 industrial sectors out of 20 had suffered a decline and the only sector to show growth was non-durable manufacturing due to the surges in food, beverage and tobacco products.
“After the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic on March 11, all levels of government in Canada put measures in place to slow its spread. Measures such as mandatory closures of non-essential businesses, schools and public institutions, and travel restrictions and physical distancing, combined with the closure of Canada’s international borders, affected all segments of the Canadian economy,” StatCan noted in a release.
Canada's borders have been closed off for non-essential services since March and it is unclear when they will be opening. The country is set to invest USD 21.8 million to enable its provinces and territories to promote holidays in their “own back yard” because of the closure of the borders due to the global outbreak.
The novel virus has so far killed more than 7,000 people in the country.
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COVID-19, which emerged last December in china has so far infected more than 6 million people worldwide.
