The 26 poorest nations in the world are more heavily in debt than any time in the last 18 years, according to a new report. Climate change and conflict are major drivers of poverty in the affected countries.
The World Bank published a new study late on Sunday highlighting 26 countries that “are in deeper debt than at any other time since 2006.”
The list includes Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, and North Korea. Most of the other nations are in sub-Saharan Africa, and include Ethiopia and Chad.
With an annual per capita income of less than $1,145 (€1,050) a year, the World Bank said these countries “are poorer today on average than they were on the eve of COVID-19,even though the rest of the world has largely recovered.”
It’s not the IMF causing this. China’s belt and road initiative saddled many 3rd world countries in Asia and Africa with infrastructure projects that were poorly scoped, planned and built with no hope of paying for themselves.
China’s loans are made outside of the IMF. Countries in need of debt relief have not been granted any by China. The IMF by extension is not going to take a haircut on loans to those countries if China doesn’t shoulder some of the responsibility for the loans they made as well.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/11/china-lending-imf-world-bank-00090588
The IMF still controls the global south’s access to money. They are still driving global direction of debt discussions. They still require endebted countries to cut social spending and open up to privatization. Even BRICs money, like from China, as you state, is beholden to IMF approval.
https://www.theinteldrop.org/2024/10/02/brics-and-the-imf-debt-traps-what-can-the-contingent-reserve-arrangement-do-for-the-global-south/
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/10/4/the-global-souths-poor-should-not-be-subsidising-the-imf
https://chinaglobalsouth.com/analysis/imf-good-china-debt-trap-🤦🏾/
China and the BRICS countries are piloting a new path forward with the attempt to make the world more economically equitable. Anything that upsets the status quo will get negative press from the likes of politico.
Even BRICs money, like from China, as you state, is beholden to IMF approval.
That is not at all what I stated. China’s loans fall outside of the control of the IMF.
Interesting choice of words, China is charting a new path forward by refusing to negotiate debt relief for third world nations and seizing their strategic assets. However it is very much not economically equitable.
As stated before the IMF is not going to negotiate debt relief for these nations as long as China does not do the same. Western countries are not going to take a loss on loans they made to subsidize China’s economic imperialism.