Financing for Development
ECOSOC Forum: Dhaka stresses mitigating gaps ICT, health, education gaps
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Ambassador Rabab Fatima has said the lack of infrastructure, especially in the areas of ICT, health, and education is acutely felt during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"Therefore, it should be our urgent priority to build adequate infrastructure in all these areas," she said.
The envoy made remarks while speaking at a virtual panel discussion on ‘Accelerating infrastructure investments for a sustainable and resilient recovery and restoring trade’ at the ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council) Forum on Financing for Development in New York on Tuesday.
Highlighting the critical importance of digital infrastructure for providing vital services to people, Ambassador Fatima urged the developed countries to ensure much needed technology transfer to LDCs and other vulnerable countries.
Also read: ECOSOC chief focuses on pandemic, SDGs, climate action
She also underscored the importance of ensuring fast recovery from the pandemic as well as better resilience against current and future shocks.
Ambassador Fatima called for the integration of the disasters and climate change issues into investment decisions to build long-term sustainability and resilience.
Underlining the weaknesses of the global supply chain infrastructure, she emphasized the need for further improvement of trade infrastructure including in the areas of transit, transportation, and shipping etc.
The envoy put specific focus on the grants and long-term concessional financing in infrastructure investment, public-private financing, blended financing, south-south and triangular cooperation etc.
She urged the advanced economies to fulfill their unmet promises in the areas of DFQF market access and other trade benefits to LDCs.
Also read: Bangladesh elected ECOSOC member
The 2021 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development is being held from 12-15 April 2021 in New York.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is leading the Bangladesh delegation.
He delivered a pre-recorded statement at the special segment of the Forum held on April 12.
Bangladesh also participated in the Special High-level Meeting with the Bretton Woods Institutions (World Bank and IMF), WTO and UNCTAD on Tuesday.
Covid-19: Hasina seeks global action to address liquidity crisis, debt burdens
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday underscored the need for having ambitious and concentrated global action plans to address the liquidity crisis and sovereign debt burdens now and during the post-Covid-19 era.
The Prime Minister said this in a video message delivered at the ‘Financing for Development in the Era of Covid-19 and Beyond Initiative: International Debt Architecture and Liquidity’.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and UN Secretary-General António Guterres convened the meeting of world leaders to urge the international community to take additional and urgent action to ensure a robust economic recovery.
The high-level virtual meeting aims to underscore the urgency of the need for more audacious and concrete action to provide liquidity and address debt vulnerability.
Moderated by BBC news anchor Laura Trevelyan, the meeting of heads of state and government featured opening remarks by António Guterres, Justin Trudeau and Andrew Holness.
Sheikh Hasina said a strong leadership is needed from the G7, G20 and OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.
Also read: PM Hasina leads from front in battle against pandemic: Envoy
She said developed countries, MDBs (Multilateral development banks) and IFIs (International financial institutions) should scale up liquidity for vulnerable countries, such as large and new ‘Special Drawing Rights’ allocation.
“International debt architecture also needs to be revisited for suitable reform,” she said.
The Prime Minister also put emphasis on fulfilling the 0.7% ODA commitment of the developed countries. “They should also expand fiscal stimulus, concessional finance and debt relief measures for vulnerable economies.”
Finally, Sheikh Hasina said, there must be new international support measures for the graduating LDCs, at least till 2030, commensurate with the SDGs.
She said more than one year has elapsed since the outbreak of Covid-19 and the world is still struggling to overcome the socio-economic challenges posed by it. “The UN has estimated that the global economy is expected to lose nearly 8.5 trillion dollars in output over the next two years.”
Talking about Bangladesh, she said the government adopted comprehensive plans to minimise the impact of the pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of people.
Also read: Hasina to South Asian leaders: Work together for common prosperity
“We immediately rolled out a stimulus package worth more than 1.24 trillion taka equivalent to USD 14.58 billion, which is around 4.44% of our GDP.”
Hasina mentioned that the government has provided adequate liquidity and loanable funds in the market to ensure uninterrupted business operation. “We undertook supportive policy interventions to minimise shocks on foreign exchange market, foreign trade and finance, remittances, external borrowing etc.”
Despite the pandemic, the Prime Minister said, Bangladesh has still been comfortably servicing its debt with the reputation of ‘non-defaulting party’ because of the prudent borrowing policy of the government.
According to the UN website, the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more than 2.6 million lives and resulted in more than 120 million confirmed cases to date, has gone beyond a health and humanitarian crisis to also become an unprecedented global development emergency.
Unprecedented action over the last year has helped control the spread of the deadly virus and mitigate its socioeconomic impact.
These emergency policies succeeded in flattening the curve of contagion and saved lives, but they also resulted in a 4.3% drop in global GDP, the first increase in extreme poverty since 1998, and the equivalent of 255 million jobs being lost in 2020.
Also read: Bangladesh achieved enviable successes in socio-economic indicators: PM Hasina
Covid-19-related economic shocks have already caused rating agencies to downgrade the credit worthiness of 42 countries since the start of the pandemic, including six developed countries, 27 emerging market economies, and nine least developed and low-income countries.
The current economic situation has also exacerbated inequalities between and within countries that pose significant threats to global efforts to build back better. The risk of a global sovereign debt crisis, in addition to the fourth global debt wave that the world entered prior to the pandemic, is now greater than ever.
Following a high-level roundtable with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank Group President David Malpass, OECD Secretary-General Ángel Gurría and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, approximately 20 heads of state and government will recommend measures to overcome debt and liquidity problems to help the world recover better and invest in the SDGs.