Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the world community should consider writing off the debt of countries such as Pakistan as the economies around the world slow down as an aftereffect of coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, Pakistan Stock Exchange lost 2,300 points (-6.59%) — a record breaking one-day fall. The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 33,684.91 points, a level last seen in October last year. The market has recorded a decline of more than 17% since the start of this year.
“In case we are swamped by it [COVID-19], our health facilities will not be able to cope,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press. “It’s not just Pakistan, I would imagine the same in India, in the subcontinent, in the African countries.”
PM Khan’s biggest fear is “poverty and hunger” in the aftermath of coronavirus outbreak as these countries lack resources to fight a global pandemic. “We just don’t have that much capability. We just don’t have the resources.
“The world community has to think of some sort of a debt write off for countries like us which are very vulnerable. At least that will help us in coping with it,” he said.
Pakistan’s coronavirus case count has risen to 183. One hundred and fifty cases have been reported in Sindh. Of these positive cases, 30 are from Karachi, one is from Hyderabad and 119 returned from Iran via Taftan.
The prime minister believes that the economic sanctions imposed on Iran should be lifted as the country is “in a terrible state right now”.
“I actually fear for what is happening in Iran too because the sanctions have already you know impoverished Iran on top of it, this virus,” he added.
