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The G20 finance ministers are working to put in place, with international organisations,
massive aid to emerging and developing countries.
Developing countries will weather neither the looming global recession nor the coronavirus pandemic.
Covid-19, without massive aid. This is what the finance ministers of the G20 have agreed, meeting
during their second videoconference on Tuesday, after that of last week. After their talks,
they undertake to implement a vast multi-faceted plan, the details of which will have to be worked out
by April 15, during the virtual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank.
In the morning, the French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, had indicated that he would defend a
increase of 500 billion dollars in the resources of the Fund "so as to have more credits
important for these countries", as well as a doubling of the institution's emergency facility instruments and "
a moratorium on the debt of the most fragile developing countries”. A position shared by the
World Bank President David Malpass. For now, the G20 Finance is committed to working with
appropriate international organizations to “provide appropriate financial assistance to the countries
emerging and developing.
The IMF is ready
The IMF is ready. Its director general, Kristina Georgieva, was also pleased that the American Congress
accelerated the ratification of a resolution last January doubling part of the resources of the
252 to 504 billion dollars. The institution which has a strike force of 1,000 billion dollars in
total has improved access to its emergency facilities. “Nearly 85 countries have told us that they rely on them
for financial support,” Kristina Georgieva said. To date, The Gambia ($47 million) and the
Kyrgyzstan (121 million) have already received aid, while Ghana is requesting one.
The World Bank, for its part, is preparing a vast aid plan for the next 15 months. The amount
could reach 160 billion dollars. First projects by country should be announced by the end
of the week.
The G20 fundraisers also discussed the role of the IMF and the World Bank in bringing
availability of resources that will help alleviate the shortage of liquidity in emerging countries. Of
moreover, they promised to work with the Financial Stability Board created after the financial crisis of
2008 to coordinate the regulatory and supervisory measures taken in the face of the health crisis.
On Monday, G20 trade ministers pledged to maintain supply chains
open. As such, the WTO has been tasked with taking up any national decision affecting the free trade of
goods and services. “We agree that the emergency measures designed to combat Covid-19, if they
are deemed necessary, must be targeted, proportionate, transparent and temporary, and that they do not
not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disrupt global supply chains, and
are consistent with WTO rules,” the ministers said.
Friction remains

"We have seen a consensus on the short-term measures to be implemented", commented
Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Nevertheless, the subjects of friction, like the Sino-American trade tensions or the blocking of
WTO, remain as they are. Evidenced by the statement of the US Trade Representative, Robert
Lighthizer, for whom the main objective is to support global supply chains to help
everyone, while specifying that it was necessary to promote national industry for essential products in order to
reduce over-reliance on other countries.