By Li Hong, People's Daily Online
Impoverished countries that are struggling to avoid bankruptcy should get the most of help from funds being replenished to the IMF, as it has proved that, although the current round of severe economic downturn originated in the developed states, the developing economies are bearing the brunt of the assault.
Initial calculations by various world organizations reveal that up to 450 million people in Asia, Latin America, Africa and East Europe are lapsing into stark poverty, because the evaporating demand from developed countries has made a dent on exports of the poor countries, depressing economic growth there and sending more residents into a living abyss.
With so much attention now focused on rescuing the banking system and arguments over their bailouts, the plight of the poor folks battered hardest during the downturn is getting short shrift. Official statistics are not yet readily available, but there is little doubt that poverty and family homelessness worldwide are rising, with legions of children losing access to adequate edible food and drink, not to say schooling and health care.
Needless to mention the desolate lives in African continent, even an amounting number of children in India, one of the most rapidly rising economies in the past few years, are living below the poverty line, with as many as 58 percent of the kids declared ill nutritional to some extent, according to a latest New York Times report.
It is frightening to see so many more adults and children being driven to huddle in squalid shelters or living on the street.
What is happening now, on our globe, is overwhelmingly frustrating. Some have groaned that a recession generation" of poor children will emerge, including not only children who were already living in poverty, but also millions more whose parents used to be working class and even middle class, but now having slipped into the unemployed army.
Recognizing its obligations, China has pledged to contribute up to US$40 billion loans to help refund the International Monetary Fund, whose capital has been depleted.
Some in the country have written against the contribution, on ground that China remains a developing country with 40 million own rural residents living below poverty line, however, the leadership in Beijing has made its mind to give a hand to the needy ones in poorer countries.
It is our sincere hope that IMF, World Bank, and other organizations resort to more effective economic and financial tools to help the impoverished ones get out of their present economic predicament. And, the developed countries should assume the main responsibility for stabilizing the financial markets and reigniting global economic growth.
Beijing has already played an active role in stabilizing global growth. Since last year, it has signed bilateral agreements on currency swaps worth 650 billion yuan with South Korea, Malaysia, Belarus, Indonesia and Argentina as well as Hong Kong.
It addition to government funding, help from other quarters, especially the wealthy private sector, should be solicited.
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