G20 countries agree debt freeze for world’s poorest countries

G20 countries agree debt freeze for world’s poorest countries

DUBAI/RIYADH/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies agreed on Wednesday to suspend debt service payments for the world's poorest countries through the end of the year, a move quickly matched by a group of hundreds of private creditors.. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz awaits the start of the video conference of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in his ministry in Berlin, Germany, April 15, 2020.. The debt standstill offer is open to the world's poorest and least-developed countries, as defined by the World Bank and the United Nations, as long as they are current in their debt service payments to the World Bank and the IMF.. A French finance ministry official on Tuesday said private creditors had agreed to roll over or refinance $8 billion of the debt of the poorest countries, on top of the roughly $12 billion in debt payments to be suspended by bilateral creditors.. World Bank Group President David Malpass said the Bank, the IMF and other multilateral lenders were exploring options for suspending their debt service payments while maintaining high crediting ratings on their bonds.. The debt suspension will last until the end of the year but