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VIRUS-POVERTY-ECONOMY
Oxfam urges rescue to stop ‘half a billion more’ in poverty
PARIS, April 9, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – International aid group Oxfam on Thursday urged world
leaders to agree a comprehensive rescue package to muster some $2.5 trillion needed to
prevent half a billion more people being pushed into poverty by the coronavirus pandemic.
It warned that the economic fallout of the coronavirus risked setting back the fight
against poverty by a decade, and as much as 30 years in some regions including Africa and
the Middle East.
Oxfam cited research by the King’s College London and Australian National University
estimating that as many as half a billion people could be forced into poverty, or 8
percent of the world’s population
“An ‘Emergency Rescue Package for All’ would enable poor countries to provide cash
grants to those who have lost their income and to bail out vulnerable small businesses,”
Oxfam said.
Among the measures that should be undertaken include the immediate cancellation of $1
trillion worth of developing country debt payments in 2020 and the creation of at least
US$1 trillion in new international reserves.
“G20 Finance Ministers, the IMF and World Bank must give developing countries an
immediate cash injection to help them bail out poor and vulnerable communities,” said
Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim Executive Director.
Oxfam warned that while many wealthy nations have introduced multi-billion-dollar
economic stimulus packages to support business and workers “most developing nations lack
the financial firepower to follow suit.”
Delivering the $2.5 trillion the UN estimates is needed to support developing
countries through the pandemic would also require an additional $500 billion in overseas
aid, Oxfam said.
Meanwhile, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) president Suma
Chakrabarti has called on the international community to join forces to combat the
coronavirus pandemic, describing the demand for emergency financing as “huge”.
He warned that the current crisis is the “greatest disruption to global economic
activity since the Second World War”.
The EBRD has already announced a 1.0 billion euro solidarity package and Chakrabarti
said the developmental lender was now working on a second phase of its programme.
BSS/AFP/MMA/1058HRS