The majority of nations in the world owe China hundreds of billions of dollars, the World Bank revealed.
According to a World Bank assessment on the global debt situation, middle- and low-income nations owe China more than USD 204 billion. The vast majority of it was borrowed for infrastructure development projects.
Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan are among the South Asian countries having the highest debts to China. Around USD 4.7 billion was borrowed from Chinese banks in this region in 2011, with the figure increasing by around 90% by the end of last year. South Asian countries currently owe China a total of USD 36 billion.
Meanwhile, Angola has the largest indebtedness to China from African countries.
During former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration, the Maldives received the majority of its loans from China, totalling around MVR 21 billion.
According to the World Bank, developing nations’ debt was USD 860 billion at the end of last year. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic raised countries’ debt by 12%.
Furthermore, World Bank President David Malpass stated that nations require a more robust framework to manage and repay debt.
The World Bank has given more than 100 nations a total of USD 157 billion in financial assistance to help them recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
