It is heartening to note that the country has entered into negotiations with 21 creditor countries for debt suspension amounting to $1.7 billion. The G20 countries, together with the Paris Club creditors had announced a Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to provide much-needed fiscal space to stressed countries in their fight against the Covid-19.

The incumbent government deserves a lot of praise for providing relief to the masses soon after the country was hit by the Covid-19 outbreak. It took a number of steps in this regard to mitigate the adverse impacts of deadly virus on the lives and livelihoods of people. Country's central bank - State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) - has played a highly important role in government overall efforts in this regard. It is requested to repeat or re-introduce its package for employers during the second wave of Covid-19 to ward off job losses in the country.

Mohsin Naqvi (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020