Vinesh Rajan regularly travels around the globe for his work. He says the panic because of novel coronavirus is unprecedented.
“I have never seen such panic. I have been working for 15 years. I have never seen anything like this. I remember the panic around Y2K and GFC (global financial crisis), but this situation is uncertain. If it is really that bad or we are overreacting, but the whole world seems to be spin,” Mr Rajan told SBS Hindi.
Highlights:
- The coronavirus outbreak might cost the global economy $1-2 trillion in 2020.
- Most airlines have taken a bad hit due to Covid-19. Many airlines have grounded the planes.
- Many countries are in lock-down forcing business to shut their operations.
The spread of coronavirus has hit share markets internationally. However, this is just one side of the picture. Small businesses have been left counting the costs too.
Economist Dr Vinod Mishra says this could cost economies dearly.
“People are not travelling. They are not eating out. Buyers are away from the shops accept for the essential things like toilet papers. The economic scenario is scary,” he said.
Most airlines have taken a bad hit due to Covid-19. Many airlines have grounded their planes. The option of lay-offs is also open. Small travel agencies are also suffering.
Source: AAP
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Gagandeep Singh of Akash Travels, Adelaide says the business is hit very severely.
“All we are getting is cancellation calls. People are scared. Most of our business comes from India. People are calling for cancellations or a change of date. And the worst part is we can’t see an end to this soon,” says Mr Singh.
Vinesh Rajan used to travel within Australia or overseas every ten days. He says he has been working from the office for the last six weeks.
“Starting in February I had a plan to go to Atlanta, but we had to cancel that.
Our team decided not to attend it because of the concerns of the Corona Virus. Then I had a few travels planned in and around Australia that I am reconsidering and thinking not to travel anymore.”
The economists are warning the impact of coronavirus could be as bad as the great depression of the 1930s if the panic lingers on.
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He says, “Economies of the world are interconnected through trade, capital flow and labour flow. The coronavirus outbreak has impacted all these sectors.
People are not travelling. They are neither investing nor buying. All these activities will have a long term impact. And if the outbreak and more importantly, the panic lingers on, the effect will worsen.”
Countries such as Italy, Spain and France have already gone into lockdown. Many cities around the world have implemented a lockdown and others are considering it. This will impact the economy for months to come.
Vinesh Rajan says there is much negative sentiment that will affect us throughout the year.
“I work in the academic kind of segment, with universities particularly. But there is a lot of negative sentiment that is coming from the sector. We are going to see a lot of budget cuts for the universities this year which is going to affect our business and projections for 2020.”
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According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the coronavirus outbreak might cost the global economy $1-2 trillion in 2020.
