OECD Secretary-General: coronavirus “war” demands joint action | WPN World People News

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría called on March 21,2020 for sweeping joint action by governments to defeat the health, economic, and social threats of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. In calling on governments to better coordinate their efforts, Gurría announced that the OECD would channel its efforts into immediate support to policymakers combating the crisis, launching a new online policy hub immediately.

“The coronavirus pandemic is a public health crisis without precedent in living memory, and it is also setting in motion a major economic crisis. It looks increasingly likely that we will see sequential declines in global GDP or regional GDPs in the current and next quarters of 2020, and we must act now to avoid a protracted recession,” Mr Gurría said. “Only a sizeable, credible, internationally co-ordinated effort can deal with the immediate public health emergency, buffer the economic shock and develop a path towards recovery. We must take special care to support the most vulnerable in their health and their daily lives. Everything must be done to earn the confidence of citizens, who felt the weaknesses in our economies before all this began.”

In a statement, Mr Gurría called for immediate policy action in four specific areas:

. Responding to the health challenge: Scientific effort must
be complemented by regulatory and other measures to ensure
that vaccines and treatments are developed, produced, and
deployed as quickly as possible.

. Shoring up the economy: Governments should cushion
immediate negative impacts with coordinated spending across
sectors such as:

. Health care: to cover extensive testing; treatment for
all patients, regardless of whether they are insured or
not; support to health-care workers; return of health-
care retirees, while protecting high-risk groups; the
enhanced provision of masks, ICUs and respirators,
among others;
. People: to cover short-term employment schemes, reduced
requirements to benefit from unemployment insurance,
cash transfers to the self-employed and support to the
most vulnerable;
. Firms: to cover charges and tax payment delays,
temporary VAT reductions or deferrals, enhanced access
to working capital through credit lines or state
guarantees, special support packages for SMEs,
especially those in services and tourism.

. Combining efforts for financial regulation and
supervision: Building on action underway by Central Banks,
co-ordinated monitoring, diagnosis of emerging strains and
coherent regulatory action will produce more positive
results.

. Restoring confidence: Addressing trade tensions, high
corporate debt, and economic inequalities that deepen
danger for the most vulnerable will help to resolve
underlying weaknesses exacerbating the shock.

source: Organization for Economic Co-operation