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Zimbabwe’s economy is projected to shrink by 4.5 percent in 2020 from an initial projection of 3 percent, due to an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Southern African country.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Nthuli Ncube announced the projections in parliament where he was presenting the mid-term budget and economic review statement.

He said the economy was poised to contract severely had the government not provided a stimulus package of 18.2 billion Zimbabwe dollars (264 million U.S. dollars) to companies in June to cushion them from the harsh effects of the pandemic.

“In the absence of the above stimulus package and assuming prolonged and severe impact of the crisis, the economy would contract severely,” he said.

“Therefore, a combination of government and external development support in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to alleviate deeper contraction of the economy to a projected -4.5 percent GDP growth in 2020, against the initial budget projection of 3 percent growth,” the minister said.

Zimbabwe had reported 1,362 COVID-19 infections and 23 deaths by Friday afternoon, according to data from the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

The health crisis has had adverse effects on Zimbabwe’s already struggling economy, with Ncube listing tourism, non-food manufacturing, mining, financial services, transport and distribution, and education sectors as the most severely affected.