International aid group Oxfam has urged world leaders to agree a comprehensive rescue package of $2.5 trillion to prevent half a billion more people being pushed into poverty by the coronavirus pandemic.
It warned that the economic fallout of the coronavirus risked setting back the fight against poverty by a decade, and as much as 30 years in some regions including Africa and the Middle East.
Oxfam cited research by the King's College London and the Australian National University estimating that as many as half a billion people could be forced into poverty, or 8% of the world's population. "An 'Emergency Rescue Package for All' would enable poor countries to provide cash grants to those who have lost their income and to bail out vulnerable