Global recession is 'a near certainty' warns UN chief

New York - United Nations

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that a

global recession "is a near certainty" and current national

responses to the coronavirus pandemic "will not address the

global scale and complexity of the crisis."

"This is a moment that demands coordinated, decisive, and

innovative policy action from the world's leading economies,"

Guterres told reporters via video conference. "We are in an

unprecedented situation and the normal rules no longer apply."

"A global recession – perhaps of record dimensions – is a

near certainty," he said.

The world's wealthiest nations poured unprecedented aid into

the traumatised global economy on Thursday as coronavirus cases

ballooned in the current epicentre Europe even as they waned at

the pandemic's point of origin, China.

So far there have been almost 219 000 infections and more

than 8900 deaths.

"Our world faces a common enemy. We are at war with a

virus," Guterres said. "I call on world leaders to come together

and offer an urgent and coordinated response to this global

crisis."

Guterres called on countries to scale up health spending and

to help countries less prepared to tackle the crisis, including

by supporting the efforts of the World Health Organisation.

He said that when it came to the global economy the

liquidity of the financial system must be guaranteed and that

banks must use their resilience to support their customers.

"G20 leaders have taken steps to protect their own citizens

and economies by waiving interest payments. We must apply that

same logic to the most vulnerable countries in our global

village and alleviate their debt burden," he said. 

AP