Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday proposed a 10 point agenda for urgent action to avert an economic collapse in a number of developing countries due to the Covid-19, warning that without economic security, conflicts and disputes would persist and proliferate across the world.
The prime minister joined nearly 100 world leaders at a two-day session of the United Nations General Assembly on the response to the deadly coronavirus pandemic and forging a united path forward to better recovery, including access to a vaccine.
In his speech on the opening day of the summit, Imran also stressed the need for reforming the international financial architecture; building an inclusive and equitable debt management mechanism; constructing a democratic SDG-focused trading system, and installing a fair international tax regime.
Imran said that the coronavirus pandemic has caused immense human suffering, but added that the poorest countries and the poor in all the countries are suffering the most. “Nearly 100 million people in developing countries will fall back into extreme poverty,” he warned.
He said that rich countries have injected $13 trillion as the fiscal stimulus to revive their economies. But the developing countries did not have that many resources. Pakistan, he said, is also committed under an IMF program to reduce the budget deficit.
“I am sure other developing countries in our position are facing a similar dilemma. How to stimulate the economy and yet at the same time reduce our budget deficit? The only way we can have the fiscal space to maintain and revive growth is through access to additional liquidity,” Imran said.
PM 10 point action plan
- Debt suspension till the end of the pandemic for low income and most stressed countries
- Cancellation of debt of least developed countries
- Restructuring of the public sector debt of other developing countries under an agreed inclusive multilateral framework</li>
- A general allocation of special drawing rights of $500 billion
- Expanded concessional financing to lower-income countries through multilateral development banks
- Creation of a new ‘liquidity and sustainability facility’, which should provide short-term loans at lower costs
- Fulfilment of the 0.7 % official development assistance commitments
- Mobilizing the required $1.5 trillion annual investment in sustainable infrastructure
- Achievement of the agreed target of mobilizing $100 billion per year for climate action in developing countries
- Immediate action to stop the massive illicit financial outflows from developing countries to rich countries, to offshore tax havens and at the same time, immediate return of their assets stolen by corrupt politicians and criminals back to these countries.