Pressure grows for developing world debt relief over coronavirus

Pressure grows for developing world debt relief over coronavirus

More than 60 poorer countries are spending more paying creditors than on health - study. Calls for a comprehensive package of debt relief to help poor countries cope with the coronavirus pandemic have intensified after research showed that more than 60 countries are spending more on paying their creditors than they are on health.. The JDC said that among the 121 low and middle-income countries for which 2019 data was available an average of 10.7% of government revenue was spent on public health systems, compared with 12.2% on external debt payments.. Before the crisis hit, 64 poorer countries were already spending more on external debt payments than on their public health systems.. The IMF and the World Bank issued a joint statement last month calling on bilateral creditors to suspend debt payments from IDA countries this year..