BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (BELGIUM/US) – In a draft communique, the G20 nations said they were doing everything possible to stem the spread of the pandemic and warned that the economic recovery across the globe was “uneven, highly uncertain, and subject to elevated downside risks”.
Leaders of G20 said in the communique that bringing the pandemic under control was very important for global economic recovery.
The final statement will be released by leaders after they hold a video conference later on Saturday.
The leaders have noted that the pandemic had pummelled the most vulnerable in society hardest, adding that some nations might need debt relief beyond a temporary moratorium on official debt payments which ends in June next year.
The leaders would decide whether or not to extend the freeze, the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, for another six months. They also ratified a common framework for debt restructuring which they drafted with the Paris Club of official creditors.
“We are determined to continue to use all available policy tools as long as required to safeguard people’s lives, jobs and incomes, support the global economic recovery and enhance the resilience of the financial system, while safeguarding against downside risks,” the statement said.
The draft said both borrowers and creditors should be more transparent about official and private debt, and urged private sector creditors to take part in the G20 debt relief effort.
On Friday, World Bank President David Malpass told G20 finance officials that some nations might need legislative amendments to push private sector creditors to be involved. “Given the severity of the crisis, we must move forward now with debt relief processes,” he said.
In the draft communique, the leaders also expressed support for a push by the International Monetary Fund to look for additional ways to address countries’ needs as the crisis evolved, and to address the “particular challenges faced by small developing states”.