June 9 (SeeNews) - The World Bank said that it expects Moldova's economic output to decrease by 3.1% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, downgrading its previous forecast for a 0.1% contraction made in April.
For 2021, the World Bank sees Moldova's gross domestic product (GDP) bouncing back to a 4% growth, slightly higher than the 3.8% increase projected in April, the lender said in its June 2020 Global Economic Prospects report published on Monday.
The outlook for Eastern Europe, which includes Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine, has substantially weakened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with GDP expected to contract by 3.6%, according to the report.
Regional weather patterns, including the drought that is affecting economies in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, also pose a downside risk to the forecasts, the World Bank added.
(1 euro = 19.4819 Moldovan lei)