NEW YORK – Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram chaired the consultations at the United Nations (UN) on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative for global debt relief.
Accoirding to media reports, ambassadors from over 22 countries from all regions held a first round of consultations on the Global Initiative for Debt Relief at their virtual meeting in New York, during which several proposals for addressing the debt issue were presented.
Senior UN officials, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) and UN Conference on Trade and Development also participated in the meeting.
In his opening remarks, read out by Munir Akram, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stressed the need for addressing the debt distress of many developing countries, which has a potential to become a debt crisis.
He hoped the informal consultations would evolve agreement on some meaningful measures and practical actions.
Welcoming Imran Khan’s initiative, President of the UN General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, called for moving quickly on debt and concessional finance to support the most vulnerable people worldwide.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed underscored the need for international community to address the debt challenges of developing countries.
