G20

The coronavirus pandemic is fast pushing developing countries toward a debt crisis that would be catastrophic for their fight against poverty, with the likelihood of multi-billion-dollar defaults that will hurt the entire global economy, warned Oxfam ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting this weekend (July 18-19).

 

Suspending debt owed to rich countries is only one piece of the puzzle. Rich private banks and investors should be pushed to cancel debts by enforcement and not left to voluntary action, said Oxfam today in response to the announcement that the G20 has agreed to suspend debt repayment of the poorest countries.

Without urgent action to relieve developing countries of all their external debt payments this year, and ensure they don't accrue into the future, the coronavirus could lead to millions of deaths and force half a billion more people around the world into poverty, said Oxfam today in response to the G7's joint statement on debt moratorium for poor countries.

The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic could push half a billion more people into poverty unless urgent action is taken to bail out developing countries, said Oxfam today.

Responding to the commitments made by the G20 today to combat the Coronavirus, Chema Vera, Oxfam International’s Interim Executive Director, said: “On the day that Imperial College London has warned that close to 40 million lives could be lost without urgent action, the world’s richest governments are still only warming up to the scale of the task.

Ahead of the virtual G20 Summit tomorrow, Chema Vera, Oxfam International’s Interim Executive Director, urged G20 leaders to act boldly and across borders to save millions of lives.

The US and some European countries are seeking to water down historic global tax reforms warned Oxfam today, ahead of a meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and central bank governments in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this weekend. G20 Ministers are expected to give the green light to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) outline proposals for tax reform at the meeting on 22 and 23 February.

G20 Finance Ministers are expected to give the green light to a new round of negotiations on international tax reforms at a meeting in Fukuoka, Japan on 8 - 9 June 2019.

Oxfam policy experts analyzed the G20 Leader's Declaration presented at the end of the 2017 Hamburg G20. This is our annotated version of the communique, specifically looking at our priority areas of inequality, climate change, the "Four Famines" crises, and more. 

"The needs of the poorest were an afterthought. Despite the anger of many on the streets at the growing divide between the rich and poor, the G20 could only muster a tepid set of policies to tackle poverty and inequality," said Steve Price-Thomas, Oxfam’s director of advocacy and campaigns.