Pakistan calls for debt relief for poor countries struggling with Covid-19 pandemic

The international community should offer substantial help to developing countries struggling to avert economic collapse amid the coronavirus crisis, according to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan.

While addressing a special session of the UN General Assembly, Khan called on the global community to take action to avoid the most serious world crisis since WWII.

In his ten-point agenda he offered debt suspension for low income and most stressed countries until the end of the pandemic, as well as the cancellation of debt of the least developed nations.

He stressed that rich countries injected some $13 trillion as fiscal stimulus to revive their economies, while millions of people in developing countries may fall into extreme poverty.

“Developing countries just do not have the resources to afford such a massive economic stimulus … They are struggling to find even a fraction of the $2-3 trillion they require to recover from the pandemic,” said Khan.

He also urged to postpone the public sector debt of other developing countries under an agreed inclusive multilateral framework. Khan offered a general allocation of special drawing rights of $500 billion along with creation of a “liquidity and sustainability facility” to provide short term loans at lower costs.

According to the prime minister, the international community needs to take immediate steps to block immense illicit financial outflows from developing countries, as well as to offshore tax havens. At the same time, the assets stolen by corrupt politicians and criminals should be immediately returned to those countries.

“Without economic security, conflicts and disputes will persist and proliferate across the world. Guided by the principles of this charter, we must all work collectively for an inclusive, stable and sustainable economic, social and political order,” Khan said.

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