{"id":5858,"date":"2023-06-23T18:20:34","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T13:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/?p=5858"},"modified":"2023-06-23T18:20:36","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T13:20:36","slug":"global-financial-system-has-failed-to-provide-developing-countries-with-safety-net-un-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/latest\/global-financial-system-has-failed-to-provide-developing-countries-with-safety-net-un-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Global financial system has failed to provide developing countries with safety net: UN chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 23 (APP): Developing countries are buckling under high debt and exorbitant borrowing costs, that prevent them from reviving their economies, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the Paris Finance Summit on Thursday, the UN chief said many African States were spending more on debt repayments than on desperately needed healthcare, and that over 50 countries were either in default or \u201cdangerously\u201d close to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guterres called for a debt relief mechanism that supports payment suspensions, longer lending terms and lower rates to make borrowing more affordable for poorer nations, as well as increased access to liquidity for developing countries via the International Monetary Fund\u2019s Special Drawing Rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also repeated his urgent call to end fossil fuel subsidies and increase climate adaptation funding for vulnerable countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaken together, these steps would help to beat poverty and hunger, uplift developing and emerging economies, and support investments in health, education and climate action,\u201d he said, stressing that the measures would enable a \u201cgiant leap\u201d towards global justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing nothing is simply not an option and at the halfway point to reaching the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) they are \u201cdrifting further away by the day\u201d, he warned delegates to the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said it was clear the international financial architecture built in the aftermath of World War Two \u201chas failed in its mission to provide a global safety net for developing countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt essentially reflects, even with some changes, the political and economic power dynamics of that time\u201d, when three-quarters of today\u2019s nations weren\u2019t around the table at Bretton Woods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNearly 80 years later, the global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional, and unjust. It is no longer capable of meeting the needs of the 21st-century world: a multipolar world characterized by deeply integrated economies and financial markets. But also marked by geopolitical tensions and growing systemic risks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned the current global financial system exacerbates inequalities, denying the poorest countries the credit and debt support they need and deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

European citizens received nearly 13 times more than African citizens under current rules for Special Drawing Rights to weather recent crises, a situation that is \u201cprofoundly immoral\u201d said Mr. Guterres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA financial architecture which does not represent today\u2019s world is at risk of leading to its own fragmentation in a world where geopolitics is in itself a factor for fragmentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere will be no serious solution to this crisis without serious reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said change would not happen fast and was a question of power and political will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut as we work for the deep reforms that are needed, we can take urgent action today to meet the urgent needs of developing and emerging economies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said richer nations could establish \u201ca really effective and time effective debt relief mechanism that supports payment suspensions, longer lending terms and lower rates, including for middle income countries with particular vulnerabilities, namely in relation to climate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Development and climate finance can be better capitalized, and development banks reformed, allowing better coordination. He said credit rating agencies had become \u201cdeeply biased\u201d and contributed to many of the recent financial crises, rather than helping avoid them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said taking immediate action towards wholesale reform could curb hunger, \u201cuplift developing and emerging economies, and support investments in health, education and climate action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can take steps right now \u2013 and take a giant leap towards global \u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 23 (APP): Developing countries are buckling under high debt and exorbitant borrowing costs, that prevent them from reviving their economies, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said. Speaking at the Paris Finance Summit on Thursday, the UN chief said many African States were spending more on debt repayments than on desperately needed healthcare, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[396],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asiafreepress.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}