Insight - Slower growth in store

Slow trend: An exterior view of the International Monetary Fund building in Washington. Although it has predicted a return to growth in 2021, there are reasons that might not happen. — AFP

RECENT decades have been glorious for developing countries, where rapid growth has lifted millions of their citizens out of crushing poverty. But the coronavirus pandemic is threatening to halt their gains. And in the long term, the decline of the United States may pose an even bigger obstacle for developing nations.

Starting in about 1990, poor countries started catching up to rich ones. South Korea, Taiwan and some countries in Europe reached a fully developed state.