China Signals Openness to Debt Relief for Poorer Nations Under Strict Conditions
- China has indicated that it may drop its insistence that multilateral banks take losses in debt restructurings with poorer countries who owe money to global creditors.
- The announcement came as creditors gathered to discuss how to speed up debt restructurings and revive bankrupt economies.
- Research shows that up to $520 billion in debt may need to be written off to prevent default in heavily indebted developing countries.
- Creditors will meet again to determine how different lenders will be treated, rules for payment suspension, and time limits for debt restructurings.
- Germany and the IMF cautiously welcomed China's signals towards debt relief, calling them progress while noting the need to review transactions with China case-by-case.