Working together, availability of vaccines will end COVID-19 - IMF

L-R: Emeka Onwuka, CFO, SEPLAT; ABC Orjiako, chairman, SEPLAT; His Royal Majesty Orodje Okpe, Orhue 1, the Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, and Roger Brown, CEO, SEPLAT, during a visit by a team of select Board and Management of the Company to the Orodje’s Palace in Okpe Kingdom.

Managing director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, says working together and ensuring that effective vaccines and treatments are available for everyone will end the Coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis faster.

Georgieva said this in a statement issued on Monday in Washington DC at the conclusion of the Fifth “1+6” Roundtable convened by the Chinese authorities.

According to her, the debt, trade and climate change were areas where global leaders should focus policy agenda on.

“The Fifth ‘1+6’ Roundtable took place against the backdrop of an uneven global recovery almost one year into the pandemic. While China’s recovery continues, there are other economies that may be losing momentum as they contend with further waves of the pandemic.

“The recent news on vaccines provides hope of a durable end to this crisis, yet many challenges remain,” she said.

She added that leaders needed to work together to continue to assist the most vulnerable countries by providing debt relief and new financing.

Georgieva said the extension of the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and the new Common Framework for Debt Treatments were very welcome.

She appreciated China’s efforts in helping to reach an agreement on the initiatives and also welcomed its continued support for their implementation, which she said required rapid and effective creditor coordination.