The poorest states must pay at least 16.3% of budget revenues to foreign creditors on average in 2023 and 16.7% in 2024. This is evidenced by the data of the British charity Debt Justice. These are the highest figures since 1998.
In 2024, the level of public debt to be repaid will be more than 2.5 times higher than in 2011. Last time, when the payments were so large, the countries with the highest debt burden were written off 60-80% of the debt, Debt Justice notes.
According to the World Bank (WB), in the structure of recipients of payments planned for 2023-2024, 91 countries whose indicators were analyzed by Debt Justice, 46% are occupied by private creditors not from China, 30% are international organizations, 12% are Chinese creditors of the private and public sectors, and another 12% are other states.
The maximum average level of government debt to maturity in 2022-2024 was recorded in Sri Lanka (78.3%), Laos (57.3%), Dominica (54.6%), Pakistan (43%) and Zambia (38.9%).
"The level of payments in many countries is becoming a crisis and limits the ability of the authorities to serve the population, combat the climate crisis and respond to economic uncertainty," said Heidi Chow, executive director of the charity.
In March, the IMF Executive Board approved a program of assistance to Sri Lanka in the amount of 2.286 billion SDR (about $ 3 billion).
The four-year program is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and maintaining financial stability, as well as unlocking the potential for economic growth by supporting structural reforms. The fund planned to send about 254 million SDR ($333 million) to the Sri Lankan authorities immediately.
