JEDDAH — Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 20 major economies agreed to suspend debt repayments from the world's poorest countries, giving them a major relief in their fight against the coronavirus during a virtual meeting organized by the Saudi Arabia G20 presidency.

"We are determined to spare no effort, both individually and collectively, to protect lives, overcome the pandemic, safeguard people’s jobs and incomes, support the global economy during and after this phase and ensure the resilience of the financial system," the group said in a communiqué.

Chairing the virtual meeting, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that the G20 has already poured more than $7 trillion into the global economy to support businesses and stem job losses.

Commenting on the debt suspension, the Saudi minister said the group would provide $20 billion in immediate liquidity.

Al-Jadaan said he is optimistic that by continuing to work together the world will overcome the coronavirus pandemic and return with strong growth ready to confront any future crisis, and added that the coronavirus pandemic, officially known as COVID-19, has taken a great toll on the world and that there is significant uncertainty regarding the depth of the crisis.

“Our aim with the action plan is to support the necessary health response and (take) measures ... preventing a liquidity crisis turning into a solvency crisis and global recession becoming a global depression, Al-Jadaan said at a joint teleconference with the country’s central bank governor, Ahmed Al Kholifey, after the meeting.

The G20 move is part of efforts to support the global economy during the pandemic and ensure financial stability.

The global economy is facing its greatest crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s and is projected to shrink 3 percent in 2020, the IMF warned on Tuesday. The Washington-based fund’s growth forecast for this year has been revised down more than 6 percentage points, relative to its October 2019 estimates and updated January 2020 projections of a 3.3 percent increase in global gross domestic product.

Reacting on the development, the IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva and the World Bank Group’s president David Malpass welcomed the G20's move to suspended debt servicing from nations in need of support. — Agencies