The UN Secretary-General called on those responsible for the 20 main world economies for an inclusive economic recovery of developing countries hit by the impacts of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the escalation of climate emergencies.
António Guterres made the call in a letter sent to finance ministers and central bank leaders of the G20 on Thursday, ahead of the group’s meeting next month on the Indonesian island of Bali.
These world events, along with rising costs of living, worsening financial conditions and unsustainable debt burdens, “are wreaking havoc on economies around the world,” he wrote.
“The impact of these compounding shocks on developing countries is further exacerbated by an unfair global financial system that is based on short-term cost-benefit analysis and privileges the rich over the poor,” he said.
Guterres stressed that immediate efforts must be made “to end the rising cost of living and increase liquidity in developing countries.”
In this regard, he urged the G20 to abandon the status quostating that the UN system and its partners have proposed “a stimulus” to address deteriorating market conditions and accelerate progress towards the organization’s 2030 development goals: end extreme poverty, ensure better education for all children and achieve gender equality.
The stimulus calls for “a massive increase in public sector commitments to development, humanitarian and climate mitigation and adaptation to just 2% of global gross domestic product (GDP),” the Secretary-General said.
And it consists of five recommendations: immediate reinforcement of debt relief for vulnerable countries, taking advantage of better loans from development banks, participation of private bondholders and sovereign debtors in debt relief efforts, increased liquidity from vulnerable countries through better utilization of special drawing rights and alignment of financial flows with UN goals and the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, it said.
“Now more than ever the leadership of the G20 is needed to lead the world” to overcome the “deepest” crisis, Guterres stressed.
Source: TSF
