JOHANNESBURG/BEIJING/WASHINGTON - Support is growing for debt relief to help the world’s poorest, indebted nations - most of them in Africa - confront the economic havoc wreaked by COVID-19. But there is one big question mark: China.
Beijing is likely to endorse a temporary freeze on debt payments by African countries as part of an expected agreement by the Group of 20 major economies this week, two sources familiar with the process told Reuters. “China is still a rising power, and it is only a recent ... entrant as a major financial partner in Africa,” said Yunnan Chen of the Overseas Development Institute , a London think tank.
Nonetheless African countries have taken a disproportionate hit due to plummeting oil and commodity prices and weaker currencies, which ramp up external debt servicing costs.As an immediate step, the IMF and World Bank are pushing for a payment moratorium on bilateral debt owed by the world’s poorest countries.
The ODI estimates lending from China makes up 33% of external debt service in Kenya, 17% in Ethiopia and 10% in Nigeria. Beijing has a history of working with struggling borrowers, but the process often aims to ease short-term pressure to ensure eventual repayment.
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JoeBavier chenglengtr andrea_shalal Rather concerning about the debt China has created around the world
JoeBavier chenglengtr andrea_shalal BaldingsWorld I would say that it is akin to seeking empathy from a Komodo Dragon.
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JoeBavier chenglengtr andrea_shalal CCP Regime effectively colonized africa with their predatory loan schemes, it was obvious the countries couldn't pay the loans and the chinese regime was there only to take the collateral for an insanely low investment in the form of a loan, and the collaterals were MINERAL MINES