G20 Leaders to Hold Video Conference Thursday on Ways to Support Economy Amid Pandemic

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Leaders of the Group of 20 will convene for an extraordinary summit on Thursday via video conference to discuss measures to protect the global economy from risks brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rapidly spreading virus, first detected in late December, has since then infected over 458,000 people practically in every country of the world, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally. Of these, 113,687 people have recovered, 20,807 have died.

The summit, which will be chaired by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, aims to “advance a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its human and economic implications,” according to the statement published by the G20 Secretariat on Tuesday.

The G20 nations will be joined by Spain, Jordan, Singapore and Switzerland, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Labour Organization, as well as regional associations, such as the African Union, ASEAN, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

Prior to the extraordinary summit, the Group of Twenty held a video conference at the level of finance ministers and central bank governors on Monday. The statement released after the talks said that the sides had agreed to develop a joint “action plan” for response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but provided no details about the discussed measures.

Sourse: sputniknews.com