Asian Development Bank's growth downgrades are not downbeat enough

The annual Asian Development Bank economic outlook released on April 3 makes for grim reading. It forecasts a drop in the region's growth from 5.2% last year to 2.2% this year as a result of the pandemic. There are multiple references to the global financial crisis of over a decade ago, and it calls on governments and central banks in both emerging and developed Asia to take swift action now as they did then.