The G20 nations, representing the world's biggest economies, announced Friday that low-income countries hardest hit by the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic could potentially get an extension on their debt payments beyond mid-2021, and in the most severe cases, a debt write-off.
The statement released after a virtual gathering of the group's finance ministers and central bank governors reads that given the scale of the Covid-19 crisis, the significant debt vulnerabilities and deteriorating outlook in many low-income countries, the G20 endorses the “Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI)”, which is also endorsed by the Paris Club.
The statement further reads that the G20 nations will remain committed to implementing the DSSI, in close coordination, to provide maximum support to DSSI-eligible countries.
The statement calls all official bilateral creditors to implement this initiative fully and in a transparent manner.
The meeting comes a month after the G20 agreed to suspend US$14 billion in debt payments for an additional six months to support 73 of the world's neediest countries in their fight against the pandemic. Developing nations now have until June 2021 to spend on healthcare and emergency stimulus programs without fretting about grueling debt repayments to foreign creditors.
Mohammed al-Jadaan, the finance minister for Saudi Arabia, this year's chair of the G20, hailed the framework as "an unprecedented agreement and a major breakthrough in international debt agenda."
The statement released after a virtual gathering of the group's finance ministers and central bank governors reads that given the scale of the Covid-19 crisis, the significant debt vulnerabilities and deteriorating outlook in many low-income countries, the G20 endorses the “Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI)”, which is also endorsed by the Paris Club.
The statement further reads that the G20 nations will remain committed to implementing the DSSI, in close coordination, to provide maximum support to DSSI-eligible countries.
The statement calls all official bilateral creditors to implement this initiative fully and in a transparent manner.
The meeting comes a month after the G20 agreed to suspend US$14 billion in debt payments for an additional six months to support 73 of the world's neediest countries in their fight against the pandemic. Developing nations now have until June 2021 to spend on healthcare and emergency stimulus programs without fretting about grueling debt repayments to foreign creditors.
Mohammed al-Jadaan, the finance minister for Saudi Arabia, this year's chair of the G20, hailed the framework as "an unprecedented agreement and a major breakthrough in international debt agenda."
