President Uhuru Kenyatta has welcomed the move by the multilateral system to provide debt relief for highly indebted developing countries as part of the global response to Covid-19.
The President termed debt relief as one of the important interventions that has helped cushion world economies from the adverse impacts of the global pandemic.
"I am pleased to note that the multilateral system was quick and very effective in developing a global response to Covid-19," he said.
He spoke in a recorded video statement on Tuesday evening during the virtual High Level Meeting of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly on ‘Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the era of Covid-19 and beyond’.
The high profile meeting was convened by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness to discuss financing of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the era of Covid-19.
Uhuru noted that although the pandemic has strained health systems and triggered a deep economic crisis, Covid-19 should be viewed as an opportunity for stronger international cooperation as countries work towards recovery.
He said the pandemic has presented the world with a chance to define new models of cooperation that will support sustainable health and economic recovery leading to accelerated achievement of SDGs.
As an opportunity to mobilize financing towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda, Uhuru said the crisis could be used by countries as a backdrop for reforms that lead to increased tax revenues.
"Many countries are registering business and workers to enable them to access Covid-19 related economic stimulus packages. This presents an opportunity to formalize our informal sector and, therefore, broaden our tax base," he said.
"In this regard, we call upon the strengthening of the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) as indicated in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. This will enable them play an even more important role in supporting the development agenda of low and middle-income countries."
This comes hours after the government refuted claims that Uhuru travelled to France to sign a loan deal.
Chief of Staff in the Office of The President Nzioka Waita on Tuesday said such reports are 'misleading' and 'full of lies'.
Waita was responding to a story by the Daily Nation which said the money would be used for the dualling of the 190-kilometre Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Road.
In his opening remarks at the high-level meeting, UN Secretary General Guterres applauded the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative saying it has created the much needed fiscal relief to enable poor countries to redirect the little available resources to the fight against Covid-19.
Gutteress said debt relief must not be limited only to least developed countries but expanded to include all developing and middle income countries.
"We will not achieve the SDGs if we don’t achieve them in Africa. We need to pay specific attention to Africa’s development financing needs," he said.
