According to International Debt Statistics 2021 released by the World Bank Group, COVID-19 has deepened the Debt Crisis in Developing Countries.
The International Debt Statistics 2021 has been prepared by the Debt Statistics Team of Development Data Group (DECDG) at the World Bank.
Key Points:
i.The Top 10 Borrowers with largest end-2019 External Debt Stock are Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Turkey and South Africa.
ii.The Debt burden of Least Developed Countries (LDC) has increased to a record USD 744 Billion in 2019.
iii.The total external debt of 120 low-and middle-income countries has increased to USD 8.1 Trillion in 2019 (Increase of 5.4 %).
iv.The report states that External Debt owed by low and middle income countries are mostly Long-Term, and majority of the Debts are owed by Governments and public sector Entities.
v.According to the report, China became the largest creditor, its share of combined debt owed to G-20 countries increased to 63 % in 2019 from 45 % in 2013.
India’s External Debts:
i.According to the report, the total External Debt Stocks of India in 2019 was USD 560, 035 Billion.
ii.South Asia registered a 7.6 % rise in debt stock, India accounted for 6% increase in debt stocks in South Asia after Bangladesh (9.5 %) and Pakistan (7.8%).
Recent Related News:
i.The 2020 Human Capital Index (HCI) is a collaboration between the Human Development Practice Group and the Development Economics Group of the World Bank.World Bank released the report titled “The Human Capital Index 2020 Update: Human Capital in the Time of COVID-19” on September 16, 2020.
About World Bank Group:
President- David R. Malpass
Headquarters- Washington, D.C., United States
