UN chief says 2022 is the year of tanking economies – The National

UN chief says 2022 is the year of tanking economies – The National

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned of “frequent debt defaults” this coming year as poor and middle-income countries are denied access to the finance and investment they need to dig themselves out of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Addressing the UN’s 193 members on his new year priorities, the UN chief called for more vaccine sharing, climate action and said that “record inflation, soaring energy prices and extortionate interest rates could lead to frequent debt defaults in 2022”.

Six nations — Argentina, Belize, Ecuador, Lebanon, Suriname and Zambia — have defaulted on their debts since the start of the pandemic. Mr Guterres said many more economies may follow suit and tank this year without a reboot of global finance rules.