A ‘perfect storm’ is brewing in the global response to Covid, WEF risk report panelist warns
People wearing protective face masks walk on the main shopping street in Munich, Germany during the coronavirus crisis on April 30 2020. Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

LONDON — The "inward-looking national agenda" of certain countries in response to the coronavirus pandemic is threatening global resilience in the wake of the crisis, suggested one panelist behind the World Economic Forum's 2021 global risks report. Carolina Klint, risk management leader for Continental Europe at Marsh & McLennan, told CNBC's Geoff Cutmore on Monday that there were lessons to be learned in the collaboration required to get coronavirus vaccines developed at an "unprecedented speed." However, she added that the "inward-looking national agenda" of some countries was "a point of concern." Her comments come as some wealthier countries are being criticized by campaigners for "hoarding" more doses of coronavirus vaccines than they need, while lower-income countries struggle to get enough shots to immunize their populations. An Amnesty International report in December raised concerns about "vaccine nationalism," naming the U.K., U.S., EU, Japan, Canada and Australia as among the biggest advanced buyers of vaccine doses. On Tuesday, the co-chair of the World Health Organization's independent pandemic review panel, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, shared her disappointment that "vaccine roll-out is currently favoring wealthy countries."

Zombie companies; asset bubbles

Klint said the "substantial" stimulus packages that governments had injected into their respective economies in the immediate response to the pandemic also dovetailed into the "ongoing trend towards self-sufficiency which has been accelerated by Covid-19." She added that there was the risk of "business zombification," if stimulus packages were not "properly structured." "So it's really a perfect storm here brewing," she said. So-called zombie companies are considered laggard businesses that need debt to operate, or earn just enough to survive and service their debt. This has been a concern amid the pandemic with increased support for businesses from governments and central banks. Similarly, Klint warned of asset bubbles — when an investment rises rapidly in price driven by market momentum rather than underlying fundamentals — as a another potential risk.

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