Yellen Urges G-20 Countries to Increase Support for Global Vaccination Efforts

Ms. Yellen urged the G-20 countries to increase their support for global vaccination programs, citing “the high, unmet needs of these initiatives.”

“A rapid and truly global vaccination program is the strongest stimulus we can provide to the global economy,” she said.

She also emphasized the need for a coordinated response to the global crisis and urged G-20 countries “to continue to take significant fiscal and financial-policy actions and avoid withdrawing support too early.”

“If there was ever a time to go big, this is the moment,” she said.

Ms. Yellen raised concerns about low-income countries in particular, which she said could experience further deaths and a needless delay of their economic recoveries without access to vaccines.

An allocation of special drawing rights, a type of reserve currency created by the International Monetary Fund, could enhance liquidity for low-income countries to aid their recovery efforts, she said.

“To make this tool effective, the G20 must work with a broad coalition of countries on a set of shared parameters for greater transparency and accountability in how SDRs are exchanged and used,” she said.

She strongly encouraged G-20 members to channel excess SDRs in support of recovery efforts in low-income countries.

She also called for global investments to help workers adapt to a post-pandemic digital world, and said the G-20 should continue to work on improving the speed and efficiency of the payments system. She said the U.S. is committed to multilateral discussions on corporate taxation and overcoming existing disagreements.

Ms. Yellen also called for better global cooperation to address climate change. She said the Treasury will co-chair the relaunched G-20 sustainable-finance group, which it proposes to elevate to a working group to reflect its importance.

“As policy makers of leading economies, we must have frank, open and sometimes difficult discussions about how to share the burdens and opportunities of transitioning our economies toward a more sustainable, equitable and prosperous future,” she wrote.

Write to Kate Davidson at [email protected]