OECD commits support to COVID-19 war, demands joint action

25 Mar '20

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) secretary general Angel Gurría recently called for sweeping joint action by governments to defeat the threats from the COVID-19 pandemic and better coordinate their efforts. She announced OECD would offer immediate support to policymakers combating the crisis through a new online policy hub.

“It looks increasingly likely that we will see sequential declines in global GDP [gross domestic product] or regional GDPs in the current and next quarters of 2020, and we must act now to avoid a protracted recession,” Gurría said.

“Only a sizeable, credible, internationally co-ordinated effort can deal with the immediate public health emergency, buffer the economic shock and develop a path towards recovery,” he said in a press release.

He called for immediate policy action in four specific areas. Scientific effort must be complemented by regulatory and other measures to ensure that vaccines and treatments are developed, produced, and deployed as quickly as possible.

Governments should cushion immediate negative impacts with coordinated spending across sectors like healthcare, employment and industry.

Governments should build on action under way by central banks, coordinate monitoring, diagnose emerging strains and take coherent regulatory action to produce more positive results.

The last area is addressing trade tensions, high corporate debt and economic inequalities, Gurría said.

The OECD platform launched in response to the crisis will provide timely and comprehensive information on policy responses in countries around the world, together with OECD advice. Policy briefs will cover a range of subjects—from vaccines to education to taxes and small business—to help governments learn from each other and coordinate in real time.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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