Archives for 2018

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for intensifying the war on illegal financial transfers, money laundering and tax evasion as one of the ways to ensure countries had adequate funds for development.

The world needs “a surge in investment” in the Sustainable Development Goals, Guterres said on Thursday unveiling his plans for the launch during the high-level meeting of the General Assembly next week of a strategy to mobilise financing for development.

“Simultaneously, I appeal to the international community to take much more effective steps to fight illicit flows of capital, money laundering and tax evasion, which continue to siphon away much-needed funds for development from the developing world,” he said at a news conference.

“The UN, for its part, will continue to support developing countries in creating conditions for mobilizing domestic resources, including through tax reform and other good governance measures,” he added.

Surveying the global scene, Guterres said: “Multilateralism is under attack from many different directions precisely when we need it most.

“I will use my meetings and other opportunities next week to press for renewed commitment to a rules-based global order and to the UN.”

When asked if he thought US President Donald Trump was a threat to multilateralism, Guterres said: “I don’t like to personalise things.”

He said there was a general erosion of trust — in political institutions, international organisations and among nations — for different reasons and “multilateralism has been in the fire”.

Of his three initiatives at the high-level session, another is the “Action for Peacekeeping”.

“Our aim is to build on the peacekeeping successes of the past and to help our missions succeed in today’s protracted and volatile contexts,” he said.

Ahead of the meeting, he created a Declaration of Shared Commitment, which “represents a clear and urgent agenda for peacekeeping, and all stakeholders have made very specific commitments”.

It has been signed by 128 countries, including India.

Outlining the dire problems in peacekeeping, Guterres said: “Peacekeepers are facing increasing threats while seeking to implement frequently large and complex mandates. Peacekeeping fatalities are at the highest level in a generation. Equipment is often inadequate, and political processes remain fragile or absent in several of the situations.”

He is also launching a new strategy called “Youth2030” as well as a “Generation Unlimited” initiative.

These aim at “first, doing more to respond to the aspirations of young people, in particular quality education and decent jobs, and and second, giving them a voice in decision-making at all levels”, he said.

(IANS)

The BJP-Congress spat over bad loans of banks continued on Friday with former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram blaming the government’s “heavy-handed” approach to the NPA problem for the sharp decline in export credit.

He said despite government’s claims of taking steps to boost exports, the export credit had declined sharply to Rs 22,300 crore in June from Rs 39,000 crore in the same month in 2017.

“Export credit declined from Rs 39,000 crore in June 2017 to Rs 22,300 crore in June 2018. Yet government claims that it is taking steps to boost exports,” Chidambaram tweeted.

“Thanks to the NDA government’s heavy-handed approach to the NPA problem, banks have no money to lend and bankers have no mind to lend,” he added.

“In a climate of suspicion and vendetta, the only thing a banker looks forward to is the date of retirement.”

A day after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley blamed the UPA government in his blog for the non-performing assets (NPA) crisis, Chidambaram said for the Bharatiya Janata Party government, every problem was due to the Congress “legacy”.

“For the BJP government, its bloggers and bhakths, every problem is a ‘legacy’ issue. Wish to remind them that lifting 27.1 crore people out of poverty is also a ‘legacy’ issue,” the Congress leader said.

Referring to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), he said that 27.1 crore people in India were lifted out of poverty in the 10 years between 2005-06 and 2015-16.

“Of those 10 years, the UPA was in the government for eight years.”

Chidambaram’s remarks came a day after Jaitley said all bad loans were given prior to 2014 when the United Progressive Alliance government was in power and that it took no effective steps to recover or reduce the NPAs.

(IANS)