The COVID-19 pandemic came and took everyone by surprise. Out of nowhere, a virus that spreads quickly infected the whole world. It put on a pause many industries and domains. Countries that rely so badly on tourism were severely affected. If we go to a deeper level, the ones that are among the most affected by the consequences of the pandemic are the restaurant and pub owners. As governments do not allow people to spend time inside without a mask, restaurants around the world remain closed.
But if we look at another level, the financial sphere is also severely affected by the global pandemic. Banks and funds for investments are hit by the fact that a lot of people are not earning or having any money. So, there is a lot of money that is blocked and does not circulate in a country’s economy. And so, many businesses, banks, and not only are hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. But how has the global pandemic affected the finance sphere? Find out below.
Table of Contents
The Era of Digitalization
If there is something people and the higher management of many businesses have learned during the pandemic is that there is an immense bureaucracy you need to go through. You want to apply for credit, you need to prepare a lot of paperwork. You want to make your own business; you need to prepare a lot of files and fill in a lot of forms. Especially in the relationship of people with banks, everything has changed, highlights a college paper writing service. The finance sphere has acknowledged that many of the things they were asking people can be done online.
This, of course, has an influence also on the human resources management of a bank. Suddenly, you may not need so many people that work in the offices of the company, but more that are part of the call center department. You also need more people in the IT sector, as if there are banks who have implemented a remote support solution, it needs to be debugged and maintained. The era of digitalization will likely lead to an increase in unemployment rates, as many companies and businesses prefer to use robots or software that are faster than humans. So, it is likely that we will see even more people not having a job, which affects the whole economy.
Savings Sector
One of the domains that were severely affected by the global pandemic is the savings sector. Before the pandemic started, everyone saved money for something. To pay for the utilities, to buy new clothes and books for children, for a trip to a foreign country, or a new experience. However, many of these people do not have a job anymore and they find themselves in the position of needing to face what some of them feared the most.
They don’t have any money to pay for food, utilities, or the credits you have borrowed from banks. The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy is already a documented one. And the savings sector, if we can call it like this, is severely affected. Not only because many people no longer have a job. But because of the health risks, the pandemic came with. There is a need for protective equipment you need to buy. Moreover, so many people got infected and needed to pay for treatment, that they, of course, used their savings account. Seeing someone dear to you on the edge of dying is not something you can easily bear. This is why you would try anything to save them and keep others safe.
Increased Number of Risks
On the other side, banks are at the center of the pandemic. Before it started, people used the bank to borrow money for different things: buy a car, build a house, college tuition, and many more. But nowadays, these things have changed. Banks are likely to see an increase in the number of risks. What does this mean? It means that they will see more credit risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk, or market risk. Well-developed countries might have an easier time coping with these, but countries that are still in their developing phase will be severely affected. Why? Because banks in these countries regulate under much weaker policies. Moreover, they support millions of people that live in a developing country, so they have reduced financial possibilities. The great majority of these people surely were affected by the negative consequences of the global pandemic, so banks will have a more difficult time recovering the loans. But which is the next consequence that developing countries might be needed to support?
It is important to understand that the role of a bank in an economy is to fuel both long-term and short-term capital financing. In a developing country, banks are at the base of that country’s development. People do not have the money to build a business, so they borrow it in the form of loans from banks. When banks will find themselves in the impossibility of recovering their loans, there will surely be a shortage of loans in general. And this will surely negatively affect the development of a country that needs this fuel so much. There are countries where banks play a dominant role in the economy, so that economies will be severely affected, if they are not already, by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Economic Recession
Everyone talks about economic recession and we all can remember that of 2007-2008. So, there is not something new to the market, but in fact, something we all have feared and lived in a few years ago. There are a few things people cannot control and that will affect their businesses a lot. The COVID-19 pandemic comes with similar consequences as the Great Crisis of 2008, so banks and people somehow know what to expect. However, things such as this global pandemic, natural disasters, wars, or political unrest are not in our control. But they can severely affect the economic growth and development of many businesses and countries. Because there are so many businesses that rely on tourists and clients to function properly and increase revenues. However, many of these went bankrupt, while many others tried to survive. The economic recession is one of the worst things the global pandemic caused, one that comes with economic distress for many people and businesses.
Final Words
No one wanted this global pandemic to happen and to last so much. Yet here we are, trying to find ways and solutions to cope with its consequences. The COVID-19 pandemic had an important impact on the finance sphere. As there were so many restrictions in place, this severely affected the way many businesses operate. Many of them went bankrupt, while others fired employees and kept only the ones they could pay. The unemployment rate is continuously rising, as businesses also experience a digitalization era. They are replacing humans with software and robots. At the same time, people have already used their savings, which draws them in the position of being desperate that they do not have money to live. Banks are also affected by the pandemic and this will have severe effects on the developing countries, whose economies rely so badly on the economic options banks offer to them.
