Faced with an unprecedented global crisis, governments across the ASEAN+3 region responded quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic and deployed strict policy measures to contain the spread of the virus. Strict containment measures, while helping to reduce the health risk, were also highly detrimental to economic activities and livelihoods in most economies, requiring rapid government responses with various support measures.

The COVID-19 crisis was a very different one from the previous crises that many countries had experienced and overcome. Such an unprecedented crisis required policy responses on an unprecedented scale at the start of the pandemic, while the prolonged nature of the COVID-19 crisis necessitated extended policy support by governments with multiple policy responses to evolving policy needs.

This joint research paper by the Korea Institute of the Public Finance and the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office analyzes the development of COVID-19 and the economic impact of the pandemic and the fiscal policy responses across the region.