World Bank President David Malpass has issued a statement directed at China urging all bilateral creditors to uphold an agreement of the G20 finance ministers to temporarily suspend debt repayments due to the Covid-19 pandemic following allegations that China has secretly reinstated payments for Laos and Angola, Nikkei reports.
Bangladesh is seeking $700 million in emergency financing from the International Monetary Fund in addition to budget support from multilateral banks including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Nikkei reports.
Central Asia, a region at the heart of China's Belt and Road Initiative, has been sharply affected by the economic downturn in China and falling energy prices due to the global spread of the COVID-19 epidemic while country-level responses to the virus have varied widely, Nikkei reports.
The Japan Bank for International Cooperation is backing Sri Lanka's first issuance of bonds in the Japanese market amid concerns about rising debt levels in the South Asian country.
This spring, when the International Monetary Fund approved a $6 billion bailout for Pakistan, an invaluable opportunity was missed to push for greater transparency of China’s Belt and Road Initiative by not requiring project contracts for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor—a significant source of Pakistan’s debt—to be made public.