UNITED NATIONS, Apr 12 (APP): The United Nations Trade and Development Conference (UNCTAD) has warned that developing countries are facing years of difficulty as the global economy slows down amid heightened financial turbulence.

In its latest Trade and Development report, released Wednesday, UNCTAD, a Geneva-based UN body said the annual growth across large parts of the global economy will fall below the performance registered before the pandemic and well below the decade of strong growth before the global financial crisis.

The UN trade body estimates that interest rate hikes will cost developing countries more than $800 billion in foregone income over the coming years. UNCTAD expects global growth in 2023 to drop to 2.1%, compared to the 2.2% projected in September 2022, assuming the financial fallout from higher interest rates is contained in the bank runs and bailouts of the first quarter.

It says that this will “further deepen the cost-of-living crisis that their citizens are currently facing and magnify inequalities worldwide”.

In 2022, borrowing costs, measured through sovereign bond yields, increased from 5.3 per cent to 8.5 per cent for 68 emerging markets.

The report says that over the last decade, debt servicing costs have consistently outpaced public expenditure on essential services, and that “the number of countries spending more on external public debt service than healthcare increased from 34 to 62 during this period”.

Last year, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned against this dynamic, calling it “a trade-off between investments in debt and investments in people”.

Public investment in developing countries will continue to suffer as countries pay more to their external creditors than they receive in new loans. This was the case in 39 countries in 2022, with potentially devastating consequences for development, social protection and the broader fight against inequalities, UNCTAD noted.

Meanwhile, international liquidity is drying up for developing economies. The report found that 81 developing countries (excluding China) lost $241 billion in international reserves in 2022, or seven per cent on average.

UNCTAD says that more than 20 countries experienced a drop of over 10 per cent, “in many cases exhausting their recent addition of Special Drawing Rights”.

Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) are an international reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to supplement the official foreign exchange reserves of its member countries and help provide them with liquidity. The largest-ever allocation of SDRs, worth $650 billion, was carried out by the IMF in August 2021 to support countries through the economic crisis due to COVID-19.

Amid the liquidity shortfall, UNCTAD warns that 500 million people living in 37 countries “are likely to continue suffering for years to come from the consequences of a global financial system unable to respond at the scale and at the speed needed to face the systemic shocks affecting the developing world”.

The report highlights that food inflation remains rampant in developing countries in early 2023, contributing to a high cost of living.

This echoes the latest assessment of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which said that despite 12 consecutive months of decreases as of March 2023, global food prices remain 30 per cent higher today compared to the average level observed in 2020, and many low and middle-income countries are experiencing double-digit food price inflation.

High food prices put food security in peril, “particularly in net food-importing developing countries, with the situation aggravated by the depreciation of their currencies against the US dollar or the Euro and mounting debt burden”, according to FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.

UNCTAD further warns that high-interest rates and inflated food and energy prices will continue to weaken household spending and business investment.

Among its recommendations, UNCTAD says that an “urgent focus” on the reform of global debt architecture is required to adequately address developing countries’ needs.

Shipping companies are working towards sustainable maritime transport as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Among the UN trade body’s recommendations is the establishment of a multilateral “debt workout mechanism”, a registry of validated data on debt transactions from both lenders and borrowers and improved debt sustainability analyses which take into account development and climate finance needs.

These recommendations echo UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call earlier this year to take action against the high cost of debt and scale up long-term financing for development.

Back in February, Guterres proposed an annual stimulus package to bridge the “great financial divide” between developed and developing nations and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The “SDG Stimulus” proposal also insisted on expanding contingency financing to countries in need and more automatically issuing Special Drawing Rights in times of crisis.

UNCTAD’s report says that issuing new Special Drawing Rights “worth at least $650 billion” would be a “positive first step in helping to alleviate the heavy debt burdens” that are putting development in jeopardy.

The report will be part of the contribution the UN trade body is making to the international discussions currently underway in Washington DC at the IMF/World Bank meetings, including on debt and financing.

The UN trade body said it viewed the meetings as “a valuable opportunity” to strengthen development finance and improve liquidity prospects.

US Congressman urges Biden administration to raise voice against HR abuses, PTI’s ‘political victimisation’ Voices concern over Sanaullah’s statement about elimination of Khan from political arena

Urges US to ‘guide Pakistan policy toward a greater commitment to human rights’

Fawad hails Sherman’s letter, urges EU, UK parliamentarians to raise issue of HR abuses as well

ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be a much-needed move, the US Congressman Brad Sherman urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to support democracy and human rights in the country; sounding alarm over what he said, the “custodial torture and sexual abuse of political figures” in the country.

In a letter to the Secretary of State, the US Congressman voiced serious concerns over “democracy, human rights, rule of law” violations in Pakistan and political victimization of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The California lawmaker has asked Biden administration to “guide the US’ Pakistan policy toward a greater commitment to human rights and to use all US diplomatic channels to urge Pakistani authorities to investigate the alleged abuses and to hold accountable anybody who may be responsible”.

“I urge the authorities to make sure that going forward political figures or citizens who simply want to demonstrate are not subjected to anti-democratic consequences,” he said.

Sherman made special mention of the “several cases” registered against PTI chief Imran Khan, “the alleged torture and even sexual abuse of political figures” like Shahbaz Gill and journalist Jameel Farooqui, “the use of force” against Imran’s supporters, “the detention of protestors under sweeping counter-terrorism laws” as well as the “closing of space for free speech” and the recent arrest of PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur.

He also expressed deep concern over Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s remarks for “insinuating” that the PTI chief “will be eliminated from the political arena.

Further, the letter also took note of the delay in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections calling it “another sign of skirting democratic processes”.

On the matter of election delay, Sherman mentioned the government’s demand for a full-court bench and said “scholars argue that such an en banc review is not called for by Pakistani law”. He added it “would be helpful if the foreign law experts at the State Department could confirm this conclusion”.

The letter also listed various other “concerns about conduct by the government or its agents” such as extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, political prisoners, serious restrictions on internet freedom, substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly, severe restrictions of religious freedom, threats of violence targeting LGBT+ persons among others.

“The United States does not involve itself in Pakistan’s internal governmental matters — I respect its Constitution and its democratic process — but we must not shy away from raising our voice when the human rights of the Pakistani people are at stake,” he said.

It recalled Human Rights Watch’s statement asking for “urgent investigations into Gill’s complaints” and questioning sedition charges against him.

Regarding the ban on broadcasting Imran’s speeches, Sherman also recalled Amnesty International’s statement that called it a “disturbing demonstration of targeting critical voices”.

Meanwhile, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry hailed Sherman’s letter, saying: “Letter by a senior member of USA Congress Foreign Affairs committee to Secretary Blinken shows the growing concerns of international community on the HR abuses in Pakistan by a fascist government.”

He called on the European Union and United Kingdom parliamentarians to “raise the issue of human rights abuses in their jurisdictions as well”.