editor victoria’s comment: the bold/italics are mine for emphasis…
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15 April, 2020
On the eve of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, amid the unprecedented Coronavirus pandemic, the IMF, in partnership with the G20 and World Bank has released an aggressive plan to immediately address this unprecedented global crisis by canceling all debts they are owed by any country that faced a moderate or high risk of debt distress before the coronavirus crisis.
In a statement released today, the Executive Board of the Fund said that it feels “compelled” to use the Fund’s influence in this moment to ensure that vulnerable countries are free to direct all public revenues at their disposal to stop the spread of this disease and mitigate the financial crisis.
“As the world’s leading finance institution,” the statement continues, “it is vital that we step in to guide the invisible hand of the global market in the right direction.” The Fund acknowledged previous policies that impacted the basic needs of billions of the world’s poor to the dictates of financial institutions’ austerity policies and that the unprecedented nature of the global pandemic demands a shift of The Fund’s policy priorities to stem massive economic repercussions.
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