Posted on 05/24/2020 8:43:59 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has poured billions of dollars in loans into low-income countries to help build their massive infrastructure projects. And now with the COVID-19 pandemic, concern about a looming debt crisis has increased in developing nations, as most of them are already bent under massive Chinese debt.
Launched in 2013, China’s BRI, also referred to as “One Belt, One Road” or the “New Silk Road,” is one of the world’s most ambitious and controversial development programs. In recent years, the initiative has been perceived as a “debt trap,” due to Beijing’s predatory lending practices.
The BRI has contributed to the substantial external debt buildup in many low-income countries, according to a recent report by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
Over the past two decades, China has become a major global lender, with outstanding debt exceeding $5.5 trillion in 2019—more than 6 percent of global gross domestic product, the IIF report stated.
The BRI has played an important role in driving China’s lending activity in recent years, making Beijing the world’s largest creditor to low-income countries. Since its launch, the initiative directed more than $730 billion to overseas investment and construction projects in over 112 countries, according to the report.
Among the BRI countries, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Laos, the Maldives, and Tajikistan are rated at “high risk of debt distress” by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), meaning they are likely to default or face problems servicing their massive debt.
In addition, a recent academic study published by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy suggests that the Chinese overseas loans may be higher than reported. The study says that up to 50 percent of Chinese loans are “hidden,” as they’re not reported to the IMF or World Bank. China’s nontransparent lending practices amplify debt vulnerabilities
(Excerpt) Read more at theepochtimes.com ...
This is going to be a major economic disaster.
The debtor countries should default on the chinese “loans.” They should call it compensation for the lives lost due to the chinese intentionally spreading the pandemic. They won’t get any more chinese money but they now know the strings.
The US should selectively default on the bonds held by the chinese for the same reason. Call it a down payment on the trillions lost due to their malfeasance.
The rest of the world would take our cue.
World courts will be litigating this for generations.
Chicoms licking their chops....
Nationalize. See ya
Article forget about Duterte’s Build, Build, Build nonsense. Turned down Japanese JICA grants and EU loans in favor of high-interest Communist Chinese loans,with projects build by imported Communist Chinese labor.
There are entire barangays in the Paranaque and Pasay in Manila and in thd Clark Freezone which are off-limits to Filipinos,as is the resort island of Boracay.
The World court has no army.
>> The debtor countries should default on the chinese “loans.”
Yup — same thoughts.
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