The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, on Friday urged the members of the Group of Twenty, meeting in Venice, Italy, to “solidarity” with developing countries facing the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.
In a letter to G20 representatives, Guterres declared that he was “encouraged by the swift action taken by the International Monetary Fund and its members to allow the withdrawal of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights.”
He noted that “solidarity requires rich countries to transfer their unused share of these funds to developing countries, including vulnerable middle-income countries and small developing islands.” “Many developed countries seem to be emerging from this pandemic, But developing countries are struggling to survive and even more to get out of it. While 70% of the population is vaccinated in some developed countries, the number is less than 1% in low-income countries.”
According to the head of the United Nations, “In advanced economies, tax packages have reached nearly 28% of gross domestic product (GDP); in middle-income countries, this figure drops to 6.5%, and in less developed countries, to 1.8%”.
