Prime Minister Imran Khan is the only world leader to have visualized the disastrous impact of coronavirus on the economies of developing countries. In an interview with a foreign news agency he has made an SOS call to international community for waiving off foreign debt to developing countries as in the prevailing melt down like situation of global economy it would be impossible for them to pay back the loans of global lending agencies including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank. The Prime Minister has asked the leadership of developed countries to make up their mind for waiving of the debt given to developing countries through multilateral donor agencies.
The economies of advanced countries of Western Europe and South East Asia can absorb the shock of global economy melt down because of their productive capacities of fast recovery from slump. It would be extremely difficult for debt ridden developing economies to get out of deep recession and move on the recovery path. The Panama leaks have now brought this bitter fact to black and white that bulk of the foreign loans that corrupt rulers of developing countries acquire are stashed out to their accounts in Swiss Banks and other tax-free heavens.
There is a growing realization by the management of multilateral donor agencies about the likely insolvency of developing economies because of spillover effect of COVId-19 on 157 countries. The IMF Managing Director, KristalinaGeorgieva has said in a statement that the global lending agency can give $50 billion interest free loans to developing countries of emerging economies and $10 billion to GDP countries. But the intended bailout package can help in repayment of already availed interest bearing loans by poor countries and clearing balance of payment obligations. It will not stimulate revival of developing economies which may have reached to the brink of default. Hopefully, the developed countries will give a favourable response to the in time call of Pakistan’s Prime Minster for waiving of foreign debt of coronavirus natural calamity hit developing countries.
