Pandemic and Colombian Economy

Pandemic and Colombian Economy
Introduction
Travel and interaction restrictions due to Covid-19 and limits on movement through partial or full lockdowns affect consumer expenditure and industries that depend on the physical presence of customers or clients. The first case of coronavirus in Colombia was detected in March 2020 when a lady arrived from Italy with covid-19 symptoms.To deal with that, PresidentIvan Duque tasked the local and regional authorities to take measures and address the health challenge.Restrictions on movements and interactions started to enforce, and many industries are affected, including the travel, transportation, tourism, and restaurant industries.There has been a slowdown in the transport systems, as fewer people are still using transportation services, which has meant that revenues for transport systems are declining.Air transport, freight transport, and urban transport are all affected. This is further complicated by the lack of government assistance to support the affected industries at a time when there are fewer government revenues and expenditure.[Translated by ContentEngine, L. L. C. "They Confirmed the First Case of Coronavirus in Colombia." CE NoticiasFinancieras, English ed. ed., Mar 06 2020, ProQuest. Web. 21 Oct. 2020 .https://search-proquest-com.proxygw.wrlc.org/docview/2373497820?accountid=11243&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo] [Julian Arellana, Luis Márquez, and Victor Cantillo. "COVID-19 Outbreak in Colombia: An Analysis of Its Impacts on Transport Systems." Journal of Advanced Transportation 2020 (2020).Web 28. Oct.2020/journals/jat/2020/8867316/]
Pandemic and economic output
Because the falling of consumer demand, the economy faces a drop on revenue, and industries failing to run at full capacity when fewer spend and industries slow down activities. Private consumption has fallen drastically, and there has been a slowdown in government expenditures, which are important parts of the aggregate demand, partly explain the 2020 economy contraction. Due to the declined economy, public investment was affected badly, which further affect the economy growth in Columbia. Now, government is facing with the choice of budget austerity measures or seeking loans finance economic stimulus programs from global financial institutions such as the IMF.
The pandemic and unemployment
Lockdowns have had a direct impact on the declining economic output because of decreased consumer demand, supply chain disruptions, and the loss in productivity. The reduced capacity of business leads to low production and consumption, which are the key component in GDP. Economists estimated that GDP will fall around 7.4%, which is higher than the same period of the previous year. Not only production was affected, but also the supply chain in the country was disrupted due to the reduction of business capacity. This year, Columbia has recorded huge job losses with unemployment above 20%.Thus, the fall in consumer demand and disruption in the supply chains have resulted in a higher than expected unemployment rate as the economy is contracting.[Coronavirus: What Is The Impact In Colombia? - Justice For Colombia", Justice For Colombia, 13 Oct 2020. Web 28.Oct.2020. https://justiceforcolom...