Pakistan PM seeks debt relief for poorer nations grappling with pandemic

Laborers wait for customers at a market in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on April 7, 2021. (AFP)

• Tells attendees of virtual UN session that it might take years for developing countries to regain pre-COVID-19 income levels
• Earlier, he had acknowledged Saudi Arabia, UAE, and China’s support in ‘saving Pakistan from defaulting on loans’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the international community to extend debt relief to developing nations and facilitate their recovery from the crippling COVID-19 crisis. 
Addressing the virtual session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) on Monday, PM Khan said there was a “dire need” to mobilize adequate financing for poorer nations. 
“For the developing countries, the debt issue must be addressed in a fair and sustainable manner. With my ‘Global Initiative on Debt Relief’, Pakistan has been advocating this cause on all world forums,” PM Khan said, adding that his administration was implementing fiscal reforms in Pakistan as well. 
PM Khan is among several heads of state, senior officials and stakeholders from the Asia-Pacific region participating in the 77th UN-ESCAP, which is being held virtually from April 26 to 29, to take stock of the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 and ramp up regional cooperation. 
In his address to the gathering, PM Khan highlighted the plight of Asia-Pacific countries bearing the brunt of the global health crisis, with a “devastating” impact on health and socio-economic goals. 
“We are now lagging further behind in achieving the SDGs [social developmental goals] than ever before. Over 100 million people will fall back into extreme poverty,” he said, adding that it might take “years to regain the pre-COVID income levels.” 
Imploring the global community to ensure “no one is left behind,” he said that all efforts require “international solidarity.” 
“We need the right mix of national actions, regional collaboration, and multilateral cooperation,” he said before emphasizing the need to “strengthen public health and social protection systems.”
Citing the example of Pakistan where “these have been the primary objectives for us,” with people-centered economic security “at the core of our development paradigm,” he said that the south Asian nation was ready to work with all members “to advance our shared objectives.” 
This isn’t the first time the Pakistani premier has appealed to international stakeholders for urgent debt relief for developing countries to deal more effectively with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. 
In April last year, he said he was worried that people in the developing world would die of hunger due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
A few months later, in November, G20 nations endorsed a plan to extend a freeze in official debt payments by poorer countries, including Pakistan, to mid-2021 and backed a common approach for dealing with debt issues.
In an online video address to the nation on Sunday, PM Khan also acknowledged that aid from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and China had “saved Pakistan from defaulting on its loans.”
Saudi had provided Pakistan with a $6.2 billion financial support package – a $3 billion loan and a $3.2 billion deferred oil financing facility in 2018, with the UAE extending a $2 billion loan to the cash-strapped country as well.
Pakistan is now battling with the third wave of the coronavirus, with authorities saying that the government may impose a complete lockdown in major Pakistani cities ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday if the surge in infections continues.