By BUUMBA CHIMBULUARICA’S economies require short-term policies that will enable them to get more fiscal stimulus, says World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.Dr Okonjo-Iweala reiterated her call to restructure debt owed by African countries to enable them provide economic stimulus for their economies and accelerate recovery from Covid-19 devastation.She stressed the importance to discuss debt restructuring and giving African economies fiscal space to recover.This, she explained, would allow African governments to invest not only on the health side but also on the economic side.“This is how we are going to recover,” Dr Okonjo-Iweala said at a virtual UBA Africa Day Conversation 2021.She acknowledged efforts by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda to push for the issuance of new Special Drawing Rights (SDR) at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which agreed to provide US$650 billion.Africa, Dr Okonjo-Iweala said, would get US$34 billion but indicated that more may be allocated.“We can use this to help implement […]
AFRICA NEEDS MORE FISCAL SPACE – WTO
