—Premier says Pakistan is trying to prevent economic collapse while protecting lives
–PM says pandemic cannot be contained without strong, coordinated and well-crafted global response
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday urged the world leaders, leading financial heads and the United Nations (UN) chief to launch a global initiative on debt relief to help developing countries, especially Pakistan, facing financial meltdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a brief televised appeal to the international community, the prime minister juxtaposed the financial health of the developing countries, where the government had been striving simultaneously to contain COVID-19 through lockdowns and saving the people from death due to hunger.
The PM cautioned that the pandemic’s socio-economic impacts would be more consequential in the developing countries.
While proposing the initiative, he highlighted that his government had provided a $8 billion stimulus package to help the most vulnerable Pakistanis in a country with a total population of 220 million people.
The proposed global initiative aimed to lay the groundwork for urgent debt relief to the developing countries, at their request, and without onerous conditionalities. The initiative was built on the prime minister’s belief that enhanced fiscal capacity was fundamental to recovery from the ongoing pandemic.
Noting the UN chief’s call for action, PM Imran also urged the world leaders to step up measures to help developing countries to overcome disastrous impacts of COVID-19.
He proposed that the developing countries should be provided with fiscal space and financial relief through enhanced debt relief and restructuring and other additional measures that could help them manage the unfolding crisis.
The prime minister observed that in the context of unprecedented challenge from the COVID-19, the global response had two different aspects emerging in the developing world and the developed countries. He noted that the developing countries like Pakistan had the dilemma of containing the novel coronavirus and dealing with the impacts of economic crises leading to hunger and poverty.
In this regard, the prime minister mentioned the response of the developed countries, particularly the US government’s announcement of a stimulus relief package of $2.2 trillion, Germany €1 trillion and Japan $1 trillion to face the coronavirus challenge.
He said that the COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented health and economic challenges and also underlined that a global recession was certain, one worse than the Great Depression. “A global pandemic cannot be contained without strong, coordinated and well-crafted global response,” he stressed.
The global initiative on debt relief would bring together stakeholders on a platform to promote coordinated health and economic response.
During the past week, various announcements had been made by multilateral actors such as the UN, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (WB). The announcements made include initial relief packages of $1.4 billion by the IMF, and $1 billion by WB.
The prime minister also invited the UNSG to work with him in advancing the objectives of a coordinated response.
According to a press release issued by the PM Office on the occasion, as part of his diplomatic outreach, PM Imran would be approaching heads of state/government from a wide range of countries notably from Paris Club, Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), heads of international organisations and others concerned to join him in this endeavor.
He has entrusted the foreign minister and the adviser on finance to reach out to their respective counterparts to work for the global initiative on debt relief.
Prior to the address, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh called on the premier and briefed him on the government’s economic package for the business community. The package includes deferred payment of existing loans as well as provision of new loans on soft terms. The prime minister was also given a briefing on various matters, including Ehsaas Cash Transfer Programme.
PM REVIEWS ANTI-CORONAVIRUS MEASURES:
Earlier in the day, PM Imran chaired a high-level meeting to review the measures taken to control the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure continuity in the industrial and economic activities.
The meeting was attended by federal ministers Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Asad Umar, Brigadier (r) Ijaz Shah, Omar Ayub, Hammad Azhar and Syed Fakhar Imam, PM’s Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood, PM’s Special Assistants Dr Moeed Yousaf, Dr Zafar Mirza, Barrister Shahzad Akbar and Tania Adrius, Focal Person on Coronavirus Dr Faisal, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal and senior officials.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan also participated in the meeting through video link.
