G20 nations have raked in nearly US$50 billion through debt repayments from the world’s poorest and most climate-vulnerable countries since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to new analysis by International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), reports NaijaAgroNet.
But despite the huge sums countries in the global South have spent on interest and capital repayments to the richest nations, G20 countries still held a total of $155 billion of bilateral LDC and SIDS debt in 2021.
The burden of debt on poorer countries has increased due to the global economic slowdown stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19 and global price and interest rate rises. This has put many poor countries in increasingly critical positions, while forcing some to default and pushing others to the brink.
