G20 to come up with coronavirus economic plan within 15 days
Riyadh, Mar 31 (efe-epa).- The G20 countries announced on Tuesday they will publish a plan within 15 days to implement economic measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
G20’s ministers of economy and governors of the Central Banks vowed to present the action plan by their next virtual meeting scheduled for 15 April, according to a statement released after an online conference.
The plan “will outline the individual and collective actions that G20 has taken and will be taking to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also highlighting the needed medium-term measures to support the global economy during and after this phase,” the statement ran.
It will also take into consideration the risks at the most indebted low-income countries to allow them “to focus their efforts on fighting this global challenge“.
The plan will address the coordination with international organizations “to swiftly deliver the appropriate international financial assistance to emerging markets and developing countries to cope with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic”.
During the meeting, officials discussed the role of the International Monetary Fund and other international financial institutions to “deploy all available resources and explore additional measures” especially those needed in the vulnerable countries.
On 23 March, ministers of finance and governors of the central banks of the G20 countries held their first virtual meeting to discuss the pandemic and prepare an online summit that took place three days later.
The G20 is comprised of the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey, as well as the European Union.
Spain is a permanent guest country.
The coronavirus outbreak emerged in Wuhan, the capital city of the Chinese province of Hubei, in December.
It has since spread to 179 countries, infecting more than 800,000 people, of which around 172,00 have recovered, and killed more than 39,000.
China has reported more than 82,000 cases, around 76,000 recoveries and 3,300 deaths.
Global hotspots of infection have sprung up in the United States, Italy and Spain, which have all surpassed the Asian country on the number of confirmed cases. EFE-EPA
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