Why securing debt forgiveness for poor countries is so hard
For debt relief to be meaningful, private creditors and China must be on board
GOVERNMENTS IN MANY poor countries have faced a sickening choice this year, between spending to support their populations through the covid-19 crisis and paying creditors. On October 14th finance ministers of the G20 group of countries offered a temporary salve for 73 of the world’s neediest countries, by saying they would extend their Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to halt debt-service payments until July 2021. That should free up funds to fight the pandemic (see chart). But a lasting solution will take more dramatic action.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Relief efforts”
Finance & economics October 17th 2020
- The Nobel prize in economics rewards advances in auction theory
- Can China’s reported growth be trusted?
- Wall Street says it is braced for losses. Now what?
- Why securing debt forgiveness for poor countries is so hard
- Low interest rates leave savers with few good options
- The IMF predicts that the world economy will suffer from “long covid”
- The tale of Iran’s stockmarket bubble is familiar—but also strange
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