UNGA80 : UNCTAD Urges Leaders To Lower Debt Costs, Steady Trade, Unlock Investment

NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Bernama-WAM) -- Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), warned that the world economy is at a crossroads, as rising tariffs, record debt payments and growing mistrust put the brakes on development.

According to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), Grynspan is urging leaders gathering for the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA80) to lower debt costs, steady trade, unlock investment and embrace digital transformation.

Speaking during the high-level week of the UNGA80, Grynspan said the global economy is “being reshaped under pressure”, with the poorest countries bearing the heaviest costs.

Tariffs applied by major economies, including the United States, have jumped this year from an average of 2.8 per cent to more than 20 per cent. “Uncertainty is the highest tariff possible,” Grynspan said. “It discourages investment, slows growth, and makes trade as a path to development much harder.”

Another dominant theme at UNGA80 was debt. Developing countries paid a record US$921 billion in interest in 2024, and 3.4 billion people now live in countries that spend more on debt service than on health or education.

“This is not a debt crisis, it is a development crisis,” Grynspan told delegates. “Markets are not in crisis – people are.”

More than 50 developing economies devote at least 10 per cent of their tax revenues to interest payments, leaving little for schools, hospitals or infrastructure. Governments are forced into impossible choices: “default on creditors or default on their people,” she warned.

The digital economy is booming. In 2023, developing economies crossed the US$1 trillion mark in digital service exports, part of a US$4.5 trillion global market. Artificial intelligence alone is projected to expand 25-fold in the next decade, reshaping trade, jobs and innovation.

But the benefits remain uneven. In least developed countries, just one-third of people are online and digital services account for only 20 per cent of exports. UNCTAD has called for investment in infrastructure, data and skills, alongside global initiatives so that digital transformation becomes a driver of development, not division.

Looking ahead, Grynspan described today’s global context as an “interim moment” where outcomes depend on leaders’ choices. The presence of more than 150 heads of state and government leaders at UNGA80 showed that multilateralism is still alive. Her message: Multipolarity should expand the centre, not replace it – more voices make the system stronger.

-- BERNAMA-WAM