Developing world faces stark choice of death by COVID-19 or by hunger, PM tells Merkel

Dunya News

PM Imran emphasized that COVID-19 had unfolded an unprecedented global health and economic crisis.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Following up on his call for a  Global Initiative on Debt Relief , Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday held a telephonic conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

During the telephonic conversation, the prime minister underscored that ability of the developing countries to cope with the COVID-19 challenge would depend on providing urgent debt relief, at their request, and without onerous conditions.

He also emphasized that COVID-19 had unfolded an unprecedented global health and economic crisis, where developing countries would be hit harder due to lack of fiscal space and debt servicing.

Imran Khan said the people in the developing world faced a starker choice: death by COVID-19 or by hunger.

PM Imran hoped that alongside the UN Secretary General, countries like Germany would provide leadership to the issue, in the forthcoming G-20 Finance Ministers Meeting as well as Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.