World Bank, IMF, Paris Club, G20 agree to suspend debt service

A consortium of multilateral institutions that includes the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Paris Club and the G20 have agreed to grant a debt service suspension to the poorest economies in the world seeking forbearance.

“For the first time, the G20 and the Paris Club, supported by the IMF and World Bank, agreed to a time-bound suspension by bilateral official creditors of debt service payments for the poorest countries that request forbearance,” Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF chief, said on Tuesday.

She made the declaration following a teleconference, which had in attendance Abdulrahman Al Hamidy, the Director-General and Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund; Toshinori Doi, Director of ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO); Andrey Shirokov, the Managing Director of the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) and other dignitaries.

Ms Georgieva noted that all the participants stated their willingness to cooperate to reduce the adverse effects of COVID-19 on the global economy.

“The IMF and the world’s Regional Financing Arrangements stand united in addressing the global challenges related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and wish to extend our deepest sympathies to all those affected. We are following the situation very closely in order to contribute to the decisive actions needed globally to face these exceptional and uncertain circumstances.

We are determined to provide the necessary support to mitigate the economic and financial impacts of the pandemic, especially on the most vulnerable people and countries,” the IMF boss said.

Read also: Nigeria’s inflation rate rises to 12.26% in March, highest in 23 months

She confirmed that regional rescue funds were in synergy with IMF country teams to exchange information and expertise needed to quickly attend to the needs of countries in dire need of financial aid.

“Recognising the sheer size of this crisis, we emphasise that looking ahead, the most effective way to support the global economies is a comprehensive response and mobilization of the resources and expertise available at all layers of the Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN).

“Against this backdrop and leveraging the deep ties created among our institutions during the past years, the IMF, at the center of the GFSN, and the RFAs, emphasize their readiness to cooperate to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the global economy and contribute to its recovery.”

According to the latest statistics released by the debt office, Nigeria is indebted to the World Bank Group through the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to the tune of $9.692 billion and $409.51 million respectively.

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