Pakistan urges debt relief to help developing countries recover from coronavirus crisis

UNITED NATIONS: Highlighting Prime Minister Imran Khan's debt relief initiative at the UN, Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram said on Wednesday that it was one of the quickest ways to create fiscal space for developing countries to recover from the grave crisis set off by the coronavirus pandemic,

"With adequate financial and technological support, developing countries can build sustainable economic models without sacrificing growth," the Pakistani ambassador told the General Assembly’s Second Committee, which deals with economic and financial matters.

Participating in a debate on the global economic situation, he said that Covid-19 has triggered the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, disrupting trade, supply chains, businesses and jobs.

As usual, the Pakistani envoy said, the poorest countries have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. He hoped that a coronavirus vaccine would be available soon for everyone, everywhere, with equitable and affordable access to it.

Despite Pakistan’s financial constraints, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan injected over $8 billion – 3 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – to protect the poor and keep the economy afloat amid the pandemic. Over 15 million families, covering the poor and the vulnerable 100 million of our 200 million people, were given cash assistance.

"Our financial plan was coupled with a strategy of 'smart lockdowns', which has fortunately controlled the spread of the virus," Ambassador Akram said, while pointing out that domestic efforts were not enough.

While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimate that the developing countries need over $2.5 trillion to recover from the COVID crisis, the developed countries have negotiated a stimulus of $13 trillion to revive their economies, the Pakistani envoy pointed out.

The developing countries, he said, were struggling to find even a fraction of the financing they require.