Islamabad: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Wednesday sought debt relief for poorer nations from developed countries during an online session of the World Economic Forum (WEF), a news source reported.
As per the publication, Khan briefed the session about how his government tackled the COVID-19 crisis, following its spread across the country. He said that along with coronavirus infection, the bigger challenge for developing countries was dealing with the detrimental economic impacts of the lockdown imposed to contain the virus from further spreading.
The prime minister said that the anti-COVID-19 lockdown has left approximately 25 million workers without their jobs and in turn the lack of income drastically affected their families. He said that the government has initiated a cash relief program and disbursed cash among 15 million people but that was a temporary solution.
Khan emphasised that the developing countries needed debt relief assistance so that they could effectively tackle the prevailing pandemic crisis. He said that the government had to divert its resources towards healthcare facilities and the environment – which is why the developed countries need to grant debt reliefs to the vulnerable countries.
