World Bank and IMF Call for Debt Relief for Developing Countries

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund want developing countries not to have to pay off debts for the time being.

The two organizations are asking the G20 countries to take that step so that the most impoverished countries do not run into financial difficulties due to the consequences of the corona crisis.

The aid must come mainly to so-called IDA countries. These are countries served by the International Development Association (IDA), the part of the World Bank that focuses on the poorest countries.

Currently, there are 77, where, according to the organizations, a quarter of the world’s population lives. Looking at the proportion of the world’s population living in extreme poverty, two-thirds of them live in those countries.

The IDA countries are mainly African and Asian countries. In Europe, Kosovo and Moldova fall under that group of developing countries.