| Finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies agreed on Wednesday to suspend debt service payments for the world's poorest countries through the end of the year, a move quickly matched by a group of hundreds of private creditors.
The meeting came amid widespread criticism - including from many G20 member countries - of US President Donald Trump's decision on Tuesday to temporarily halt funding to the World Health Organisation over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has now killed 131,000 people. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz called the move "an act of international solidarity with a historical dimension," adding it would let the countries invest in healthcare "immediately and without time-consuming case-by-case examination".
A source familiar with the agreement said it would cover US$12 billion to US$14 billion in bilateral debt service payments owed by the 76 International Development Association countries, plus Angola, through the end of the year. That is critical since countries had been reluctant to offer debt relief if countries could use the freed funds to service private-sector debts.
World Bank Group President David Malpass said the Bank, the IMF and other multilateral lenders were exploring options for suspending their debt service payments while maintaining high crediting ratings on their bonds.
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