Janet Yellen Calls for Accelerating Debt Relief for Poor Nations
Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen called on Sunday for international creditors to speed up their efforts to provide debt relief to developing countries facing default, arguing that shoring up their deteriorating finances would benefit the global economy.
Speaking in Gandhinagar, India, ahead of a gathering of finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations, Ms. Yellen cited a recent agreement among international creditors, including China, to help Zambia pay its debts. She said that the agreement, which took more than a year to negotiate, should be a blueprint to use in helping other nations, such as Ghana and Sri Lanka, to accelerate debt relief and restore growth.
“We should apply the common principles we agreed to in Zambia’s case in other cases rather than starting at zero every time,” Ms. Yellen said. “And we must go faster.”
The Treasury secretary noted that more than half of low-income countries are in or near debt distress — double the total from 2015. These nations face a vicious cycle, because heavy public debt levels make it hard to attract public and private investment.
Source: The New York Times
