The poorest countries may owe less to China than first thought – The Economist

THE FOUR-LANE, 62-km toll road being built between Masiaka, a business hub in Sierra Leone, and Freetown, the countrys capital, promises shorter journey times, fewer accidents and smoother drives. It is nonetheless controversial. Awarded to China Railway Seventh Group, the project added over $160m to the countrys foreign debt, according to the China-Africa Research Initiative…

How we can truly repay our frontline health workers: clear their debts | Alissa Quart, Astra Taylor And Brittany M Powell – The Guardian

Photograph by Bayete Ross Smith/EHRP and The Guardian Every day at 7pm, New Yorkers have cheered, applauded and banged pots and pans for frontline workers. One of those they have cheered for is Shana-Kay Henry, a physician assistant in the city, who, like thousands of others, is praised as a hero for her brave caretaking…

Private lenders need to step up on African debt relief – Atlantic Council

Stranded commuters wait for transportation at a bus terminal during a protest by taxi operators over the government’s financial relief for the taxi industry, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown, in Soweto, South Africa, June 22, 2020. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko The international community quickly agreed this spring that the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic damage necessitated…

Coronavirus deaths and swelling public sector debt share a data-quality problem – The Conversation UK

Watching scientists, politicians and journalists struggle to compare national death rates from the coronavirus pandemic, I had an acute case of dj vu. Though the virus may be novel, the confusion generated by inconsistent data standards is anything but. Its something Ive observed closely for many years in studying public sector debt. Such league table…

Private sector participation in G20 debt relief ‘essential’: IMF – Deccan Herald

Private sector participation will be essential to ensuring the success of a debt relief initiative launched by the Group of 20 major economies for the world’s poorest countries, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund said on Monday. The G20’s offer to suspend official bilateral debt service payments by the poorest countries would likely…

UPDATE 1-Private sector participation in G20 debt relief ‘essential’ – IMF – Reuters

FILE PHOTO: International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath takes questions at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, U.S., October 18, 2019. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Private sector participation will be essential to ensuring the success of a debt relief initiative launched by the Group of 20 major…

Big Hotel Owners Stand to Gain From a Government-Orchestrated Debt Relief – The Wall Street Journal

Lawmakers and businesses are pushing the U.S. government to offer debt relief to hundreds of small hotel owners who borrowed with the help of bond markets. But the biggest beneficiaries of any assistance could be large real estate owners affiliated with properties that owe troubled hotel debt, according to an analysis by hotel union Unite…