COVID-19: Obasanjo, Gordon Brown, others mobilising $600bn
- As coronavirus plunges the world's economy into recession, global leaders are surely not resting on their oars
- Notable personalities including Olusegun Obasanjo and Gordon Brown, a one-time prime minister of the UK, have started making moves to raise a multi-billion dollar fund
- The world leaders are making efforts to raise the sum of $600 billion with which to help developing nations cope with the negative economic effects of the disease
In a bid to assist third world countries over the harsh economic effect of coronavirus, international personalities and presidents of notable nations are mobilising the sum $600 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The world leaders include a former prime minister of the United Kingdom (UK) Gordon Brown and Olusegun Obasanjo.
Alongside global economic leaders, Obasanjo and others made the call for a decisive and concerted global response to the pandemic, Vanguard reports.
The move is expected to raise a multi-billion dollar anti-coronavirus fund which will be spear-headed by the G-20 countries.
Aside from making efforts to raise $8 billion emergency global health fund to prevent another wave of the pandemic, the leaders are calling for an agreement by the multilateral finance organizations to waive the debt interest payments for the impoverished regions of the world.
In their projection, they pointed out that not less than $35 billion is needed for ventilators, test kits and protective equipment for health workers who are on field work in the fight to contain the disease.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Kristalina Georgieva, the chairperson and managing director of the IMF had confirmed the fears of top players in the global market in relation to how coronavirus would affect the international economy.
Georgieva, on Friday, March 27, admitted that the global economy, due to the spread of the virus, has been plunged into a recession and that this is worse than what happened in 2019.
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She added that the global economic body has estimated $2.5 trillion as the sum that will cater for the needs of "emerging markets."
Moreover, the IMF chief stated that it will take massive funding to salvage third world countries most of which are in Africa. Georgieva said that it is believed that this is "on the lower end."
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Source: Legit.ng