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China-IMF Spat Over Debt Relief Intensifies Following Fund Chief’s Call for Beijing to Change Its Ways

by Cobus van Staden
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva appeared on the popular U.S. news program 60 Minutes on Sunday and said China has to change its policies on debt relief. Image via CBS News.

The war of words between China and Western-led multilateral institutions about developing country debt is escalating. China’s party-owned tabloid Global Times has reacted to a recent CBS 60 Minutes interview with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, in which she said: “China has to change its policies because low income countries cannot pay.”

This is only the latest such comment from high-level officials at International Financing Institutions (IFIs). Two weeks ago, World Bank President David Malpass accused Chinese actors of making unfair demands and stringing out Zambia’s debt renegotiation process.

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