UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked the G20 finance ministers to take "bold" steps to reform the international development banks and find ways to solve the debt crisis facing several developing countries, reported IANS citing official spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
"The Secretary-General calls on the G20 finance ministers to be bold in their efforts to reform the multilateral development banks and in the effort to find solutions to pressing debt challenges through the debt roundtable," Dujarric said on Friday, as quoted by IANS.
He added, "We think India's presidency of G20 is very important and we look forward to it."
G20 Finance Ministers will be meeting in Bengaluru as part of rounds of decisions to be held under India’s G20 leadership of the group of major industrialised and emerging economies.
As per the report, the economies of the global South hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic were again challenged by Russia's invasion of Ukraine which resulted in higher prices of energy and food. Many developing countries, including Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia, are reeling under immense economic pressure and need international bailouts.
Guterres had launched one of his strongest critiques of the global system during his visit to India in 2022.
"The international financial system is morally bankrupt. It was devised by the rich to serve the interests of the rich. It is the moment to change it," he then said in Mumbai.
He has also emphasised the need to reform the international financial system, especially the multilateral development banks like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, reported IANS.
Earlier this month, Guterres laid out before the General Assembly his priorities for the year. IANS reports said that he listed the debt crisis as one of the problems needing immediate attention and called for "a new debt architecture that encompasses debt relief and restructuring to vulnerable countries, including middle-income ones in need".