United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned today, Saturday, the stranglehold that rich countries have on poor nations through "greedy" interest rates and high fuel prices. Guterres, speaking at the fifth United Nations conference on the Least Developed Countries being hosted in Doha, stated that wealthy nations should provide $500 billion annually to assist those "trapped in vicious cycles" that hinder their efforts to boost their economies and improve health and education.
In remarks directed at poor countries, he said: "Deprived of liquidity, many of you are denied access to capital markets due to greedy interest rates."
The conference, which focuses on 46 countries classified as the least developed in the world, typically convenes every ten years, but it has been postponed twice since 2021 due to the COVID pandemic. However, two of the poorest countries in the world are unrepresented in Doha due to the United Nations not recognizing their governments, namely Myanmar and Afghanistan. Additionally, no leaders from major global economic powers attended.
