Tag: Debt

Sudan devalues currency in effort to access debt relief

The move meets key demand by international financial institutions to help Sudan’s transitional authorities overhaul its battered economy. The Central Bank of Sudan has sharply devalued the currency, announcing a new regime to “unify” official and black-market exchange rates in an effort to overcome a crippling economic crisis and access debt relief. The change on […]

Debt in the time of pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and the economic devastation it caused made 2020 a trying year for me and so many people I know. After months of bad news, disappointments, and difficulties, I convinced myself that things will be better in 2021. Sadly, I was quickly proved wrong. On New Year’s Day, I received an email from […]

US Treasury’s Yellen, IMF chief urge multilateral debt solutions

Yellen also says US ‘desperately’ needs Congress to act on stimulus measures after record economic contraction. United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have agreed on the need for multilateral solutions to address debt vulnerabilities and other issues facing the global economy, the Treasury Department said. Yellen’s […]

Renewables outstrip fossil fuels as the EU’s main source of power

Renewables overtook fossil fuels as the European Union’s main source of electricity for the first time in 2020 as new projects came online and coal power shrank, a report shows. Renewable sources such as wind and solar generated 38 percent of the 27-member bloc’s electricity in 2020, with fossil fuels such as coal and gas […]

IMF says Iraq seeking emergency loans after oil price plunge

Iraqi government is reportedly seeking $6bn in loans, with possibility of a further $4bn, according to finance minister. Iraq has requested emergency assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and talks are ongoing between the parties, the IMF said. Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi told the Bloomberg news agency earlier that Iraq was in talks […]

Could Biden’s student loan freeze argue for bigger debt relief?

Thanks to vagaries of the accounting world, Donald Trump’s administration had a chance in the final weeks of the presidential race to cancel more than $200 billion of student loans with no immediate hit to the Department of Education’s massive portfolio. Yet it didn’t do it. Now, perhaps Joe Biden will. For years, bean counters […]

Debt and COVID: One in five UK citizens borrow more amid crisis

Some nine million adults in the United Kingdom are diving deeper into debt, a trend that is also exacerbating income inequality. Almost 9 million people in Britain had to borrow more money by the end of last year to help them through the coronavirus crisis, according to new figures that show widening gaps between the […]

IMF working ‘very intensively’ with Sudan for debt relief

The move comes after Sudan’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism was dropped after nearly 30 years. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is working “very intensively” with Sudan to build the conditions for broad debt relief and will assess progress on a staff-monitored programme in March, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said. She told […]

Costa Rica’s ‘explosive’ debt crisis: All you need to know

Costa Rica’s latest effort to address a nearly $40bn debt crisis threatens to rekindle anti-austerity protests across the Central American nation, experts say, as the government began talks on Monday with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government had been preparing an agreement with the IMF last year, but the terms for that deal were […]

Can President Xi turn China into a $30 trillion economy by 2035?

China’s economy is expected to grow at its slowest pace since the Mao era, and debt has soared to $43 trillion. . President Xi Jinping hopes to double the size of China’s economy by the middle of the next decade. Meanwhile, after mismanaging the epidemic, the United States may relinquish its title of the world’s […]

Budget deficit fix? Oman readies third bond sale in three months

The largest oil exporter outside of OPEC is selling $3.25bn in debt in three parts. Oman is back in the debt market for the third time in less than three months, taking advantage of investors’ appetite for yield to help plug the Gulf Arab region’s widest budget deficit. The largest oil exporter outside of OPEC […]

China extends debt relief to DR Congo amid COVID-19 crisis

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a major producer of cobalt and copper, has attracted billions of dollars in investment from Chinese firms in recent years. China has granted some debt relief to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to help it overcome economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the Congolese foreign ministry said […]

World Bank urges ‘greener, smarter, more equitable’ recovery path

The economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are giving countries an opportunity to pursue “greener, smarter, more equitable” development paths, but onerous debt burdens remain a major obstacle for poorer nations struggling to rebuild, the World Bank said on Tuesday. “Left unaddressed, the problem of unsustainable debt, and restructurings that do too little, will […]

Oman looks to borrow $4.2bn in 2021 to cover budget shortfall

Its economy battered by low oil prices and COVID, Oman plans to finance the majority of its budget shortfall in 2021 by borrowing. Oman’s government will finance most of its budget shortfall in 2021 by borrowing to plug a fiscal gap battered by a decline in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. The Persian Gulf […]

In the time of pandemic, debt relief efforts need to go further

In the last few months, due to the devastating effect the coronavirus pandemic has had on the global economy, the fiscal clock has been ticking more rapidly than ever before for many small and vulnerable states across the world. With Joe Biden’s victory in the United States presidential election, which increased the possibility for meaningful […]

‘Deliberate depression’: World Bank’s dire warning on Lebanon

Lebanon has been ravaged this year by an economic and financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a deadly explosion at the Port of Beirut. Now, economists at the World Bank are warning that things will get much worse for the embattled nation before they get better, threatening the country’s stability. The bank’s economists see Lebanon’s […]

China’s factories crank up output, but jobs, debt remain concerns

China’s factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years in November, while growth in the services sector also hit a multi-year high, as the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic stepped up. Upbeat data released on Monday suggest the world’s second-largest economy is on track to become the first to […]

A new Belt and Road? US, Taiwan hook up to counter China’s effort

An informal U.S.-led alliance to provide an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative will provide greater transparency to countries seeking funding to develop their infrastructure, Taiwan’s finance minister said. Taiwan and the U.S. are moving ahead with a plan to finance infrastructure and energy projects in Asia and Latin America, using capital raised from […]