Note to Correspondents: Meeting of Ministers of Finance on options to address economic challenges arising from COVID-19 crisis and beyond
The meeting of finance ministers convened by the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General and the Finance Ministers of Canada and Jamaica, the first ever of its kind at the UN, brought together more than 60 countries and Institutions (including the EU, AU, G20, LDCs and SIDS ) and at cabinet level (45 Ministers and 12 Vice Ministers).
Ministers of Finance and the Economy provided feedback to the single ambitious menu of policy options developed by the six Discussion Groups formed by the UN after the Heads of State and Government Meeting of 28 May 2020. The menu of options presents proposals to recover from the current crisis in the short term, and adopt the policy measures and mobilize the financial resources for inclusive economies to recover better and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the longer term.
These refined options will be presented to world leaders at a follow-on High-Level Meeting of Heads of State and Government on 29 September 2020 to advance concrete solutions and a global response to what has aptly been described by the UN Secretary-General as the world’s “first development emergency.”
Quotes:
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed
“Let’s seize this initiative to consolidate a menu of policy options to support your work for the immediate economic relief people need, a people’s vaccine for COVID-19, and to tackle deep injustices, inequalities and governance, while we stand ready, together, to rethink a global financial system that works for these unprecedented times.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada Chrystia Freeland
“We all know that we are only six months into the worst health and economic crisis of our generation. In today’s interconnected world, the global health system relies on the strength of all of us and on our collaboration to control and conquer COVID-19. Together we must ensure a sustainable global economic recovery. That’s why our conversation today is so important.”
Minister of Finance of Jamaica Nigel Clarke
“COVID-19 summons all of us to act with dispatch, it is incumbent upon us to clearly identify credible policy measures that we can propose to our Heads of State and Governments in order to ensure swift action and implementation.”
New York, 8 September 2020