Thursday, 08 Oct 2020 12:05 PM MYT
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 ― The Group of 20 nations must offer poorer countries a longer freeze in debt payments and other help to protect the global economy from long-term scarring inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic, leading business and labour groups said. “The required contribution from the world's leading economies is minute compared to the social and economic costs of inaction,” the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Trade Union Confederation, and Global Citizen, a group pushing to end extreme poverty by 2030, said in an open letter.
The groups noted a worrying “stimulus gap” with high-income countries having spent some 8 per cent of GDP in economic stimulus to mitigate pandemic's impact, compared to just 1.3 per cent for low-income countries.