G20 Debt Initiatives Not Enough, Relief Must Extend To All Countries - UN Chief

G20 Debt Initiatives Not Enough, Relief Must Extend to All countries - UN Chief

The G20 group's initiative on debt relief is not enough to overcome economic hardships resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and should be extended to all developing and middle-income countries, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Wednesday

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2020) The G20 group's initiative on debt relief is not enough to overcome economic hardships resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and should be extended to all developing and middle-income countries, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Looming crises could contribute to the deepest global depression since the 1930s. I welcome the debt relief initiatives by the G20. But they are not enough," Guterres said at the Extraordinary Inter-Sessional Summit of the Organization of African, Caribbean and the Pacific States. "The G20 debt moratorium only covers the least developed countries. Debt relief must be extended to all developing and middle-income countries that request forbearance because they have no access to financial markets."

In April, the G20 countries' finance ministers and central bank governors agreed to suspend repayment of official bilateral credit by the world's poorest countries.

Guterres also called for an enhanced unity and solidarity to mitigate the devastating impact of the pandemic on the world's economies and tackle other global crises, such as the climate emergency.