High Fuel Costs and Vested Interests Block Progress in Developing Nations

In the absence of representatives from the world’s poorest and richest countries, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres denounced the world’s rich countries, which are suffocating poor countries with greedy interest rates and high fuel prices.

Guterres pointed out at the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries hosted in Doha that rich countries should allocate $500 billion annually to help those countries “stuck in a vicious circle” that hinder their efforts to strengthen their economies and improve health and education, speaking to poor countries, saying that “liquidity-deprived, many of you are deprived of access to capital markets because of predatory interest rates.”

The conference was not attended by two of the world’s poorest countries due to the United Nations’ non-recognition of their governments, namely Burma and Afghanistan, and none of the leaders of the world’s major economic powers were present.

The conference on the 46 countries classified among the world’s least developed countries is usually held every ten years, but has been postponed twice since 2021 due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Source: AFP.