Lebanon among countries with highest debt

Lebanon among countries with highest debt

The world's poorest countries are bearing the brunt of the world's debt crisis, at a time when they need more cash than ever to fight climate change.

As top officials gather in Paris for the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, AFP takes a look at the problem.

- Which countries have the most debt? -

The poorest economies already had high debt levels before Covid-19 struck, forcing them to borrow more to shore up their economies during months-long lockdowns.

Add in the war in Ukraine, which drove up global food and fuel prices, and the higher interest rates imposed by international banks to combat rising inflation, and they face a combustible mix.

"It means that countries are much less able to refinance their debt or to borrow for infrastructure projects or climate change projects," Clemence Landers, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, told AFP.

The United Nations Development Program warned in March that 25 countries are spending more than a fifth of government revenues servicing external debt.

Among the countries with the highest debt as a percentage of GDP in 2021, the report mentions Venezuela (240.5 percent), Sudan (181.9 percent), Eritrea (176.25 percent), Lebanon (150.6 percent), Cape Verde (142.3 percent), Suriname