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President William Ruto has appealed to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other financial institutions to grant debt relief to Third World nations relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ruto said this in his first address as the head of state while delivering his inaugural speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States.
As many nations are still recuperating from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Ruto stated that debt relief will go a long way towards safeguarding the development projects that these nations have already set in place.
“On behalf of Kenya, therefore, I join other leaders in calling upon the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral lenders to extend pandemic-related debt relief to the worst-hit countries, especially those affected by the devastating combination of conflict, climate change and covid-19,” Ruto said.
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Additionally, he urged the G20 to take into account postponing or cancelling the developing nations’ debt payments while they recover from the pandemic. The Group of Twenty, or G20, is an intergovernmental organisation made up of the European Union and 19 other nations (EU).”
“I urge the G20 to extend and expand the scope of the common framework to suspend or reschedule debt repayments by middle-income countries during the pandemic recovery period,” he added.
He also said that to prevent the economic crises that will follow the epidemic, Kenya and the rest of Africa, like other emerging nations, need more international cooperation and engagement. President Ruto also urged other nations to work together with underdeveloped nations to aid in the pandemic’s recovery.
Before leaving the nation, his director of communications Hussein Mohammed said President Dr Ruto is scheduled to have a meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden.
