G20 nations are determined to continue doing everything possible to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, warning in a draft communique that the global economic recovery remains “uneven, highly uncertain, and subject to elevated downside risks”.
Bringing the pandemic under control is the key to supporting a global economic recovery, the G20 leaders said in the draft, excerpts of which were obtained by Reuters. A final joint statement will be released by leaders from the United States, China and other Group of 20 nations after they meet by video conference on Saturday.
In the draft, the leaders noted that the coronavirus crisis had hit the most vulnerable in society hardest, and said some countries may need debt relief beyond a temporary freeze in official debt payments that ends in June 2021.
It said G20 leaders would revisit whether to extend the moratorium, the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), for another six months in the spring of 2021, and endorsed a common framework to deal with debt issues that is also backed by the Paris Club of official creditors.
Source: Business Standard
