International
creditors must relieve African countries of debt payments this year to
help them deal with the coronavirus pandemic, French President Emmanuel Macron
said in a wide-ranging interview with RFI on Wednesday in which he also
urged Russia to get behind UN calls for a global ceasefire.
The French president said African economies must be given "some breathing space" as the coronavirus pandemic triggers the steepest slowdown since World War II. |
A moratorium on African
countries' debt payments is "an indispensable step" to help the
continent weather the coronavirus crisis,
the French president told Radio France
Internationale (RFI), FRANCE 24's sister station, calling for the
debt to be eventually written off.
"We must give
African economies some breathing space by suspending debt payments during
this crisis," Macron explained, describing the moratorium as
a "global first".
The French president's
comments come as his finance minister says major international
creditors have reached a preliminary agreement to relieve the world's
poorest countries of debt payments this year.
Macron urged finance
officials for the US, China and other G20 nations to finalise
that agreement when they meet online on Wednesday.
In his interview, the
French leader said he had secured the agreement of three of the five permanent
members of the United Nations Security Council to back a call by the UN for a
global ceasefire so the world can focus on the coronavirus pandemic.
The UN's
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the world truce on March 23,
warning that in war-torn countries, health systems have collapsed and the small
number of health professionals left were often targeted in the fighting.
Macron said President
Xi Jinping of China, US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson had all confirmed to him they would back the plea.
The French leader said
he was hopeful of securing Russian President Vladimir Putin's agreement in the
coming hours.
"I spoke to him at
the start of this initiative. I haven't spoken to him since I got the firm
confirmations of the other leaders. I will do in the next few hours,"
Macron told RFI.
"I think that for
sure President Putin will agree and the day he says he does, we'll be able to
hold this video conference and relay this call in a solemn, forceful and
efficient way."
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