Reuters: THE CHIEF OF THE UNITED NATIONS WARNS THE WORLD IS AT RISK OF A GREAT FRACTURE OF ITS ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SYSTEMS
The world risks a "great fracture" of its economic and financial systems, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday at a summit with Southeast Asia's ASEAN bloc, China, the United States and others in Indonesia. "There is a real risk of fragmentation – of a great fracture in world economic and financial systems; with diverging strategies on technology and artificial intelligence and conflicting security frameworks," he said. He called for a mechanism to provide relief for debt-strapped developing economies, to include payment suspensions, longer lending terms and lower interest rates. He also voiced support for re-channelling an additional $100 billion of International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights through multilateral development banks to increase liquidity and support developing economies' needs.