'Debt Restructuring is a priority to tackle current socioeconomic crisis'

"We need ceasefires, sanctions lifted, 10 per cent global GDP at the minimum and the COVID vaccine as a global public good, as this matters to all of us. Again, where there is COVID-19, then it will be everywhere," UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said.

New York: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has said the debt restricting has to be the top most priority to tackle the current crisis triggered by the COVID-19.

She made this comment at a recently held virtual extraordinary meeting of the ‘Group of Friends of Sustainable Development Goal Financing’.

“Resources are needed. Of recent, we have seen in the stimulus packages for the $2 trillion overnight, the United Kingdom making offers where workers are able to stay at home with 80 per cent of their salaries paid; in Japan, almost 20 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP). All these almost overnight trillions, yet we are still arguing the merits of the debt standstill in the billions, when we know this is just the beginning and we are going to need trillions,” she said.

The Secretary-General also opined that there is a need to make sure everyone has an opportunity to feel those stimulus packages to address their economies.

"We need ceasefires, sanctions lifted, 10 per cent global GDP at the minimum and the COVID vaccine as a global public good, as this matters to all of us. Again, where there is COVID-19, then it will be everywhere," she added.

Underscoring the debt management challenges that low-income and middle-income countries are grappling with she said, “Debt restructuring is a priority including immediate waivers on interest payments for 2020. By relaxing the burden of debt financing, countries will have the fiscal space to deliver the agile and aggressive response required to reduce the impact of the crisis"

The Secretary-General gave a special shout out to health workers that are on the front line.

"Turning to the humanitarian family, the launch of the $2 billion response plan for 40 crisis countries and looking to increase those crisis countries. These are people on the front lines of existing crisis, preparing for the additional burden of COVID-19 and hopefully we can prevent that because it would be a catastrophe for millions of people," she said.