Financing gap is growing consistently to meet SDGs, PM Oli says

Kathmandu, September 23 — Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the huge financing gap has to be bridged as LDCs face an annual spending gap of 40 percent of GDP to achieve the SDGs. 

"We all know that the staggering financing gap of 4.3 billion US dollars is growing consistently," the Prime Minister said.

Co-chairing the Summit of the Future Interactive Dialogue entitled “Transforming Global Governance and Turbocharging the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” in New York of the United States on Sunday, the Prime Minister called upon all development partners to urgently realize the target of 0.7 percent of gross national income (GNI) as official development assistance (ODA) to developing countries and 0.2 percent to LDCs, implement the SDG Stimulus, combat illicit financial flows and support capacity building for domestic resource mobilization.

Prime Minister Oli urged all to make collective efforts to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. "We must reinvigorate multilateralism and deepen our multilateral cooperation through renewing and transforming global governance."

According to the PM, compounding crises including the persistent impacts of COVID-19, growing conflicts, and climate change have severely impacted the progress toward sustainable development and added that poverty, hunger, and inequalities are on the rise. 

PM Oli said that unequal trade gains, market concentration, a high interest rate of external borrowings, and growing debt servicing burdens have shrunk the fiscal space and financial sustainability of many developing countries.

The global financial system, designed decades ago, struggles to address contemporary issues such as poverty, climate change, and inequality and the current system fails to meet the burgeoning needs and specific challenges of those left behind, PM Oli argued. 

The digital divide is growing and countries are facing an uphill task to leverage digital technology for the transformation of their economies, he added. 

"We need to be pragmatic while soul-searching the reasons for our failures to achieve desired outcomes in our development aspirations as well as in our efforts to deepen multilateral cooperation," PM Oli reasoned. 

The PM also stated that developing countries should have a stronger voice and representation in decision-making processes. This reform will enable IFIs to better support their specific needs and effectively respond to global crises, PM Oli said. 

Likewise, the PM has asked the international financial institutions for comprehensive debt relief initiatives tailored to the unique circumstances of developing countries including least-developed countries like Nepal. "Urgent debt relief and long-term debt restructuring for the highly indebted countries and establishing a fair and transparent mechanism for debt resolution is a must," PM Oli added. 

Similarly, PM Oli stated that technology holds immense potential to address multiple challenges we face and closing the digital divide is urgent for recovering the progress in SDGs. 

He viewed that stress should be given to supporting low-income countries for increased access to reliable digital connectivity, robust digital infrastructure, lowering connectivity costs, and global digital networks. 

Furthermore, he asked the global leaders to honor commitments to tackling climate change adding that adaptation and mitigation funds must be increased and loss and damage funds should be operationalized and fully resourced to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change on vulnerable countries and communities.