New York, April 16 -- The COVID-19 pandemic is leading to "an even more unequal world", the Deputy UN chief said on Thursday, speaking at the closing session of the Financing for Development (FfD) Forum, with many lower-income countries now seeing development gains reversed.

Deliberations throughout the four-day long forum highlighted the "full scope" of the COVID impact, said UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed.

"The worst health and economic downturn in our lifetime has laid bare and exacerbated the vulnerabilities in our economies and societies, leading some to describe COVID-19 as the inequality virus", she added.

Alarming problems

Developing countries have faced "ballooning debt burdens" and constrained fiscal budget, and...