UNCTAD cancels USD 1 trillion debts owed by developing countries

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has cancelled over $1 trillion debt owed by developing countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to help them overcome the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Highlights:
♦ UNCTAD report stated that over 64 low-income countries currently spend more on debt service than their health systems. For developing countries debt has become inevitable, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
♦ UNCTAD estimated financing and liquidity requirements due to the pandemic sums up to at least $2.5 trillion.
♦ The high-income developing nations have debt service obligations of between $2 to $2.3 trillion in 2020 and 2021. Also, the UNCTAD stated that the middle and low-income countries have debt service obligations of $700 billion to $1.1 trillion.
♦ Earlier, the G20 countries allocated $8 trillion into a stimulus for their own economies. The G20 nations agreed to suspend the bilateral debt service payments by the world’s poorest countries until the end of 2020.