LONDON - African countries' debts with China are a third of what they owe non-Chinese private lenders, while interest rates are just over half, according to a report published on Monday amid a debate about the role of the world's largest bilateral creditor.
Chinese public and private lenders accounted for 12 per cent of the continent's US$696 billion external debts in 2020, while 35 per cent was owed to other private creditors, according to an analysis of World Bank data by Debt Justice, a campaign group. China's lending to emerging economies has come more into focus as some countries have got into debt trouble and Western officials have called on China to speed up restructurings."China took part in the G-20's debt-suspension scheme during the pandemic, private lenders did not," Tim Jones, the head of policy at Debt Justice, a British charity that campaigns against"poverty caused by unjust debt", said by email.
It noted that there were big differences between the 24 African countries that spend more than 15% of government revenue servicing debt. Six countries - Angola, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Zambia - sent over a third of debt payments to Chinese lenders in 2021, while other private creditors accounted for over 33 per cent of payments in 12 countries.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
Source: STForeignDesk - 🏆 4. / 71 Read more »
Source: STForeignDesk - 🏆 4. / 71 Read more »
Source: asiaonecom - 🏆 10. / 59 Read more »
Source: STForeignDesk - 🏆 4. / 71 Read more »