Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday underscored that ability of the developing countries to cope with the COVID-19 challenge will depend on providing urgent debt relief, at their request, and without onerous conditions.
He expressed these views during his telephonic conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During the call, which was a follow-up for ‘Global Initiative on Debt Relief’, the prime minister emphasized that COVID-19 has unfolded an unprecedented global health and economic crisis where developing countries will be hit harder due to lack of fiscal space and debt servicing. The people in the developing world face a starker choice between death by COVID-19 or by hunger, he added.
The prime minister hoped that alongside the UN secretary general, countries like Germany will provide leadership to the issue in the forthcoming G-20 finance ministers meeting as well as spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday decided to further provide greater entrepreneurship opportunities to the country’s youth by enhancing the loan limits under the Kamyab Jawan programme from the current Rs 5 million to Rs 25 million. The decision was taken during a meeting with Advisor on Finance Dr Hafeez Shaikh and Special Assistant on Youth Affairs Usman Dar, the PM office said in a press release.
It was also decided to curtail the interest rate from current 8 per cent on the borrowed amounts, besides inclusion of all banks in the Kamyab Jawan programme. During the meeting, the prime minister also directed for expediting the process for distribution of amounts among the applicants after improvement in the current situation. He said that country’s youth should be extended with further opportunities and facilities.
Mentioning the critical role of the youth in stabilizing the country’s economy, he observed that after relaxation in the lockdowns, the youth should be encouraged to excel in the small and medium entrepreneurships. He further said that youth are the real asset of the country and the government is keen to further invest on them.
