Nairobi — President William Ruto has urged the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to extend debt relief to countries worst hit by the COVD-19 pandemic.
Speaking during his inaugural speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States, President Ruto indicated that nations also affected by conflict and climate change should also be considered.
"On behalf of Kenya, therefore, I join other leaders in calling upon the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral lenders to extend pandemic-related debt relief to the worst hit countries, especially those affected by the devastating combination of conflict, climate change and covid-19," he stated.
"Furthermore, I urge the G20 to extend and expand the scope of the common framework to suspend or reschedule debt repayments by middle-income countries during the pandemic recovery period."
The head of state pointed out that the disruption and ensuing crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic compelled Kenya to diversify our focus into new interventions, including an Economic Stimulus Program, a Covid-19 Economic Recovery Strategy and a Covid-19 Social Economic re-engineering Recovery Strategy.
He indicated that all this was aimed at mitigating the adverse impacts of the pandemic.
"I confirm that we have done the best of everything we could in the circumstances. Nevertheless, it is not enough. Kenya and the rest of Africa, like other developing countries, are in need of greater international partnership and cooperation to avert economic crisis in the wake of the pandemic," he stated.
He explained that developing countries, being heavily burdened by external debt servicing, run the risk of losing development gains due to the shocks inflicted by the pandemic and associated disruptions.
"I call upon global financial institutions and the international community to take urgent measures and release all existing financial instruments to provide much-needed additional liquidity and secure better fiscal space for developing countries like Kenya, to enhance social investment, support climate change adaptation and mitigation, address security needs and resolve development financing challenges."
