Pakistani PM Imran urges rich economies to write off debts

Pakistani PM Imran says revoking status of occupied region, ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri people by ‘Nazi BJP’ will have global implications. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

ISLAMABAD, Mar 18, 2020, Pakistan Today. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday feared the new coronavirus will devastate the economies of developing nations and warned the international community to be prepared to write off the debts to developing nations if the same happens, Pakistan Today reported.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the prime minister expressed concerns over the devastating impact the virus may have on economies of “poorer countries”.

“My worry is poverty and hunger,” Imran said, adding: “The world community has to think of some sort of a debt write-off for countries like us, which are very vulnerable, at least that will help us in coping with (the coronavirus).”

Expressing fear of a possible economic fallout of COVID-19, Imran said that if a serious outbreak happens in the country, the government’s efforts to lift the economy out of near-collapse would begin an unstoppable slide backward.

“Exports would fall off, unemployment would soar and an onerous national debt would become an impossible burden,” the premier added.

The prime minister noted that Pakistan, being a developing economy, does not have the capability and resources to deal with the adverse effects of coronavirus.

“It’s not just Pakistan. I would imagine the same in India, in the subcontinent, in African countries,” he said, referring to the virus. “If it spreads, we will all have problems with our health facilities. We just don’t have that capability. We just don’t have the resources.”

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