WASHINGTON -- The World Bank is seeing "a huge willingness" on the part of official bilateral creditors to suspend debt payments by the world's poorest countries so they can focus on fighting the coronavirus pandemic, a top Bank official said on Monday.
Finance officials from the G7 and G20 countries are due to discuss the debt relief issue this week. Three sources familiar with the process said details were still being finalized, but they expected the G20 countries to back a suspension of debt payments at least until the end of the year. The IMF announced on Monday a first round of debt relief grants to 25 of its poorest member countries, including Afghanistan, Mali, Haiti and Yemen.
The two institutions are urging China and other big creditors to suspend debt payments from May 1 for International Development Association countries that are home to a quarter of the world's population and two-thirds of the world's population living in extreme poverty. With a combined gross domestic product of around $2 trillion, those countries face official bilateral debt service obligations of $14 billion through the end of 2020, the World Bank estimates.
"This is a global problem affecting everybody. Unless everybody acts, it will not add up," van Trotsenburg said. "That means every institution has the obligation to see what can it mobilize to the best of its ability, and to be fast."
Kung hindi nila gagawin yan ano naman ang ibabayad sa kanila ng mga bansa? Dahon ng sili?