(Washington) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) hopes to gain support from G20 countries for its proposals to strengthen the framework for restructuring the debt of poor countries, amid rising risks of default, a spokesperson said. speak Thursday.
Posted at 1:14 p.m.
A Finance G20 will be held on February 17 and 18 in Jakarta (Indonesia). The managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, and the number 2 of the institution, Gita Gopinath, will participate remotely, announced Thursday Gerry Rice, spokesperson for the IMF during a press briefing.
Mme Georgieva had estimated in early December that without the help of the G20, some countries risked “economic collapse”.
She had then put forward the idea of a “temporary suspension of debt service” for countries that had made a request to restructure their debt, for the duration of the discussions, recalled Gerry Rice.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, rich G20 countries offered poor countries a moratorium on debt service payments until the end of 2020 before extending it until the end of 2021 .
In parallel with this debt service suspension initiative (DSSI), they had created, in November 2020, a “common framework” intended to restructure, or even cancel the debt of the countries which would request it.
But for now, private creditors, particularly Chinese, are holding back its implementation.
For the moment, only three countries, Chad, Ethiopia and Zambia, have applied for debt relief under the Common Framework, but the delay is accumulating in the processing of their file.