Debt relief must be offered to all developing, middle-income countries: U.N. chief

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that debt relief "must be extended to all developing, middle-income countries that request forbearance as they lose access to financial markets" amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"Many developing and middle-income countries are highly vulnerable and already in debt distress or will soon become so, due to the global recession. Alleviating crushing debt cannot be limited to the Least Developed Countries," he told a U.N. meeting on how to handle the pandemic's economic fallout.