INDIA: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stresses that committing to specific and credible financing assurances for Sri Lanka is “most urgent”.
The United States will continue to push for all bilateral official creditors including China to participate in what she called “meaningful” debt treatment for developing countries and emerging markets in distress, Yellen said joining a press conference at the G20 meeting in Bengaluru.
Speaking on tackling building a stronger and more resilient global economy, Yellen noted that it is imperative to work together to ease the debt overhang that is holding back too many countries.
“The IMF estimates that around 55 percent of low-income countries are close to or in debt distress.”
Yellen said she looks forward to robust talks later this week about the Common Framework process to help countries like Ghana.
The US Treasury Secretary will also be engaging in discussions pertaining to international coordination on debt restructuring for middle-income countries.
Earlier, Yellen during a meeting on Thursday with India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the sidelines of a meeting of financial leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, thanked India for its help with efforts to restructure debts while encouraging the G-20 to step up such efforts.
India has been most active in helping its neighbour Sri Lanka to weather a crisis that has resulted in shortages of food, fuel and medicines, among many things. Yellen has urged China to work with other donor countries in addressing the problem.
The Indian Finance Minister and and the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also discussed strengthening multilateral development banks, global debt vulnerabilities and crypto assets.
In Bengaluru, G-20 Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors and other leaders will discuss a range of issues related to climate finance, seeking consensus on regulating digital currencies, global tax issues and other financial priorities.
Yellen and other officials earlier indicated they will also be discussing risks of heavy debt burdens for many countries after costly efforts to cushion the worst impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those woes have deepened as countries’ import bills surged due to sustained higher prices for food, oil and fertilizers and weakening currencies.
- NDTV
-Dailynews