The UN secretary-general called on the heads of the world's 20 major economies for an inclusive economic recovery for developing countries hit by the impacts of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and escalating climate emergencies.

António Guterres made this appeal in a letter sent Thursday to the G20 finance ministers and central bank leaders ahead of the group's meeting next month on the Indonesian island of Bali.

These world events, along with the rising cost of living, worsening financial conditions, and unsustainable debt burden, "are wreaking havoc on economies around the world," he wrote.

"The impact of these aggravating shocks on developing countries is further exacerbated by an unfair global financial system that relies on short-term cost-benefit analysis and privileges the rich over the poor," Guterres told Lusa.

Guterres stressed that immediate efforts must be made "to stop the rising cost of living and increase liquidity in developing countries."

In this regard, he urged the G20 to abandon the 'status quo', saying that the UN system and partners have proposed "a stimulus" to address deteriorating market conditions and accelerate progress towards the organization's 2030 development goals: ending extreme poverty, ensuring quality education for all children, and achieving gender equality.

The stimulus calls for "a massive increase in public sector commitments to development, humanitarian and climate mitigation and adaptation at just 2% of global gross domestic product (GDP)," the secretary-general said.

And it consists of five recommendations: immediately enhancing debt relief for vulnerable countries, leveraging better loans from development banks, engaging private bondholders and sovereign debtors in debt relief efforts, strengthening liquidity for vulnerable countries through better use of special drawing rights, and aligning financial flows with UN goals and the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, he said.

"Now more than ever, G20 leadership is needed to lead the world" to overcome the "deepest" crisis, Guterres stressed.