Hope India’s G20 presidency benefits poor nations: UN chief

New Delhi, October 18

Ahead of his India visit, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said he “very strongly” hopes that India’s G20 presidency will allow for the creation of effective systems of debt restructuring.

Guterres as well as India have warned that developing countries are facing a “perfect storm” due to the impact of the Covid pandemic and increased food and fuel prices because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Ahead of his visit to Mumbai and Gujarat starting on Tuesday night, Guterres also said he had “very strongly” advocated for the need of reforms in “our international economic and financial system that was to a large extent built by the rich and for the rich”.

“I very strongly hope that the G20 presidency of India will allow for the creation of systems of debt restructuring and debt relief for the possibility of multilateral development banks to be able to do concessional funding to middle income countries that are particularly vulnerable,” he said.