UN calls on governments to cut recession and forgive debt with particular focus on nations like the Dominican Republic

UNITED NATIONS AP.-More than 60 United Nations agencies and international organizations on Thursday urged governments to take steps to address the global recession and financial crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the world’s poorest countries.

“Billions of people live in countries on the brink of economic collapse due to the explosive combination of financial problems fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, heavy debt obligations and a decline in official development aid,” said the Inter-institutional Working Group on Financing for Development, headed by the UN.

In response to the crisis, financial markets around the world have suffered heavy losses and intense volatility in the past month, he added, and investors pulled around $ 90 billion from emerging markets in the largest cash withdrawal in the world. history.

In a 207-page report, the task force said that before COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, one in five countries – with billions of people living in poverty – was expected to view their income as they were to stagnate or decline in 2020, and the pandemic is now likely to affect billions more.

“The economic and financial shocks associated with COVID-19, such as disruption in industrial production, falling commodity prices, volatility in financial markets and growing insecurity, are derailing the already lukewarm economic growth and aggravating the greater risks of other factors,” added the report.

“These include the pullback of multilateralism, discontent, and mistrust towards globalization, an increased risk of over-indebtedness, and more frequent and severe climate crises.”

To avoid the crisis of doubt, the members of the working group called for the immediate suspension of debt payments from the least developed and low-income countries that request it.

The group, which includes the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, also called for urgent measures to restore financial stability.

The consortium further called for ensuring liquidity sufficiency, strengthening the global financial safety net, promoting trade, increasing access to international finance, and expanding spending on public health.

AP-