IMF: Asia’s informal workers need ‘New Deal’ of protections

SINGAPORE: Governments across Asia should do more to prop up informal workers whose weaker savings and safety nets make them particularly vulnerable in virus-stricken economies, according to the International Monetary Fund.

These workers make up about 60% of non-farm employment across the Asia-Pacific region, higher than in Eastern Europe or Latin America, Era Dabla-Norris and Changyong Rhee from the IMF’s Asia-Pacific Department wrote in a blog post published Thursday.