Nike PopoolaThe debt burden of least developed countries rose to $744bn in 2019, the World Bank said on Monday. It disclosed this in its report titled ‘Debt burden of least developed countries continues to climb to a record $744bn in 2019’. Within the G-20 creditor group there had been some important shifts characterised by a marked increase in lending by G-20 member countries that were themselves middle-income countries, it stated. For example, it said, China, by far the largest creditor, had seen its share of the combined debt owed to G-20 countries rise from 45 per cent in 2013 to 63 per cent at end-2019. Over the same period, the share of Japan, the second largest G-20 creditor, had remained broadly the same at 15 per cent, it stated.

Source: Punch October 12, 2020 23:15 UTC