Over 225 former national leaders, medical experts, and academics have urged the G20 to approve a $2.5 trillion COVID-19 recovery package to help poor and middle-income countries–which comprise of roughly 70% of the world’s population–limit the economic impact of the ongoing crisis.
In an open letter, they remarked that over 100 countries have requested financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and that this number is only likely to increase as the crisis draws on. They warned that without the leadership of the G-20 nations, which account for 85% of the world’s GDP, a far-reaching recession that will damage all economies is certain. This will harm the “world’s most marginalized and poorest peoples the most.”
The G20 is made up by the European Union and 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Among the signatories of the letter are: former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon; financier George Soros; former World Bank president James Wolfensohn; former World Bank vice-president Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; former NATO secretary-general Javier Solana; former UK prime ministers Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, and Sir John Major; former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer; and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark.
Gordon Brown said, “For the first time this century, global poverty is rising and three decades of improving living standards are now in reverse.” Brown said that the “great reversal” would propel a further 420 million people into extreme poverty. He joined the other signatories in calling for the next G20 meeting to be brought forward from November to address these pressing concerns. He said a failure to do so is an “abdication of responsibility” and a “death sentence for the world’s poorest people,” who depend on international aid. Brown also called for a “coordinated blitz” on over $7.4 billion stashed in offshore tax havens. He warned that inaction could result in a “second wave of Covid coming out of the poorest countries.”
During the preliminary stages of the coronavirus outbreak, the IMF estimated that poor and developing countries would require $2.5 trillion in financial assistance. Similarly, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates a loss of over 300 million full-time jobs due to the pandemic. The World Food Programme (WFP) calculated that more than 265 million people are at risk of malnutrition. Likewise, the United Nations (UN) warns that over 400 million people now face poverty.
In accordance with this, the G20 leaders announced a $5 trillion plan on March 26. However, former New Zealand PM Helen Clark said, “only a fraction of that has so far been allocated.” She said, “While we welcome the good intentions at the heart of the G20 action plan, concrete measures must urgently be agreed and be implemented in full.”
Thus, the open letter calls for: debt relief of up to $80 billion for 76 countries (including 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa); for the World Bank’s emergency aid fund to be doubled; $1 trillion in “additional special drawing rights for the IMF”; and a pledge of $7 billion towards vaccines.
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Over the weekend, Donald Trump announced his plans to invite India, Australia, Russia, and South Korea to the now postponed G-7 talks. In this letter, the signatories wish to go one step further and facilitate a global forum where the countries of “Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and most of Asia could agree a global growth plan and unite a divided world.”