Ebola’s Economic Impact Could Be ‘Catastrophic’ - World Bank

On Wednesday September 17, 2014, a World Bank Group analysis of the Ebola epidemic released finds that if the virus continues to surge in the three worst-affected countries – Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone – its economic impact could grow eight-fold, dealing a potentially catastrophic blow to the already fragile states, the group said

However, the analysis finds that economic costs can be limited if swift national and international responses succeed in containing the epidemic and mitigating “aversion behavior” – a fear factor resulting from peoples’ concerns about contagion, which is fueling the economic impact.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said,

“The primary cost of this tragic outbreak is in human lives and suffering, which has already been terribly difficult to bear. But our findings make clear that the sooner we get an adequate containment response and decrease the level of fear and uncertainty, the faster we can blunt Ebola’s economic impact.”

“We have seen in recent days a serious scaling up on the part of international donors to contain the Ebola epidemic. Today’s report underscores the huge potential costs of the epidemic if we don’t ramp up our efforts to stop it now,” said Kim.

 Earlier this week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced the U.S. is deploying 3,000 U.S. military forces and over $500 million in defense spending to West Africa to fight the Ebola outbreak.