UN Secretary-General: "Wealthy Beneficiaries of the COVID-19 Crisis Must Be Taxed"

"World's Wealthiest Increase Assets by $5 Trillion"
"Wealth Tax or Solidarity Tax Should Be Levied and Given to Those in Need"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed imposing a wealth tax on the wealthy who have made significant profits during the COVID-19 pandemic. He argued that the wealth of the world's richest individuals increased by more than $5 trillion (approximately 5,625 trillion KRW) before and after COVID-19, representing a huge inequality that requires taxation to resolve. As countries around the world are considering tax increases as part of COVID-19 recovery and economic stimulus measures, discussions on tax hikes are expected to intensify within the international community.

According to the Associated Press on the 12th (local time), Antonio Guterres stated at a UN high-level meeting held that day, "The wealth of the world's richest individuals increased by more than $5 trillion even amid the COVID-19 pandemic last year," and added, "To address the deepening inequality, governments must impose a wealth tax or solidarity tax on those who profited from COVID-19, ensuring that the funds are used for those in urgent need."

This statement is expected to provide strong justification for tax increase measures by governments worldwide, whose national fiscal debts have worsened due to COVID-19 relief, vaccine procurement costs, and economic stimulus packages. Secretary-General Guterres also emphasized, "Over 3 million people worldwide have died from COVID-19, about 120 million have been pushed into extreme poverty, and 255 million have lost their jobs," and called for "providing interest-free loans to low- and middle-income countries and deferring debt repayments until 2022."

Later, attending the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Development Finance Forum, Guterres expressed regret over the failure to respond to COVID-19 through multilateral cooperation. He pointed out that "10 countries account for 75% of global vaccine doses, while many countries have yet to start vaccinations." He described vaccine inequality as "an example of the failure of multilateralism," warning that "the vaccine gap between countries threatens the health and well-being of everyone."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.