Debt relief for the poorest nations may be extended beyond 2020

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G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States (File)

Washington:

Finance ministers of the wealthy G7 countries said that a debt relief initiative for the world‘s poorest countries could be extended beyond the end of the year to help cope with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Their joint statement came amid warnings that low-income and emerging market economies will need more than the International Monetary Fund’s initial estimate of $ 2.5 trillion to weather the crisis.

The Group of Seven (G7) includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“We continue to work together to advance the international economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the poorest and most vulnerable countries,” said the ministers of the world‘s most advanced economies.

“COVID-19 has exacerbated existing debt vulnerabilities in many low-income countries, underscoring the importance of debt sustainability and transparency for long-term financing for development,” they said.

These nations commended the efforts of the international financial institutions (IFIs) to increase their support for the most vulnerable countries.

“In this context, we are committed to implementing the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) approved by the G20 and the Paris Club, by suspending official payments of bilateral debt of the poorest countries until “at the end of 2020 and perhaps longer, by providing these countries with space to finance social, health and other measures to respond to the pandemic,” they said.

“In accordance with the G20 and Paris Club DSSI agreements, we will implement DSSI in all of our export credit agencies and other public lending agencies, and we also invite all official creditors to do so. “they said.

G-7 finance ministers said they strongly support the commitment of DSSI recipient countries to strengthen debt reporting, which facilitates better-informed investment decisions, strengthens public accountability and supports development long-term sustainable.

“We are pleased that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group will monitor the participation of creditors, the disclosure of public debt and the use of additional budgetary space, and we look forward to the publication of these results by the public.

“Beyond the DSSI, the IFIs have an important role to play in helping borrowing countries to improve practices aimed at promoting transparency and debt sustainability, as noted in the context of the IMF and the multi-stakeholder approach. World Bank components to tackle emerging debt vulnerabilities, “they said.

They called on IFIs, borrowers and creditors to work together to strengthen public reporting of debt data used in debt sustainability analyzes, including a breakdown by the external creditor and more in-depth coverage of contingent liabilities , public enterprise debt and guarantees. funding.

“The IFIs can encourage and support the efforts of borrowing countries to improve public debt disclosure, limit non-concessional borrowing if necessary, and reduce debt vulnerability,” they said.

“We remain committed to assisting low-income countries in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to work with the G20, Paris Club partners, the IMF, the World Bank and other creditors to secure debt sustainability and transparency, including promoting timely creditor coordination and equitable burden-sharing, “they said.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide has risen to 6,429,453 while the death toll reached 385,873 on Thursday morning, according to the Center for System Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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