- Web Master
- May 09, 2024
Reuters / The Daily Star
Thu Sep 7, 2023 11:42 AM
The
world risks a "great fracture" of its economic and financial systems,
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday at a summit with
Southeast Asia's ASEAN bloc, China, the United States and others in Indonesia.
In a wide-ranging speech that touched on geopolitical
tension, multilateral development finance and climate change, Guterres called
on world leaders to find peaceful and inclusive solutions to the challenges
facing the world.
"There is a real risk of fragmentation – of a great
fracture in world economic and financial systems; with diverging strategies on
technology and artificial intelligence and conflicting security
frameworks," he said.
He called for a mechanism to provide relief for
debt-strapped developing economies, to include payment suspensions, longer
lending terms and lower interest rates.
He also voiced support for re-channelling an additional $100
billion of International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights through
multilateral development banks to increase liquidity and support developing
economies' needs.
Rich countries agreed in 2021 to re-channel the unused
funds, an international reserve currency, to poor countries.
At a Paris summit in June this year, world leaders backed a
push for multilateral development banks like the World Bank to put more capital
at risk to boost lending.
World Bank president Ajay Banga outlined a
"toolkit" at that summit, including offering a pause in debt
repayments, giving countries flexibility to redirect funds for emergency
response, providing new types of insurance to help development projects and helping
governments build advance-emergency systems.
Guterres also said he remained "deeply concerned"
over the "worsening political, humanitarian, and human rights"
situation in Myanmar, a nation besieged by war since a 2021 military coup.
"I reiterate my urgent call on the military authorities
of Myanmar to listen to the aspirations of its people, release all political
prisoners, and open the door to a return to democratic rule," he said.
In a statement on Wednesday, ASEAN chair Indonesia said
regional leaders expressed "grave concern" over a lack of substantial
progress on their five-point peace plan for Myanmar.
ASEAN leaders are set to hold talks with the United Nations later on Thursday.
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