A bill currently under consideration in New York State could reshape sovereign debt renegotiations around the world by making private creditors accept the same losses as the U.S. government would as a sovereign creditor instead of holding out for a full payback.
The bill comes as countries like Zambia and Sri Lanka face their loan renegotiations being dragged out for years as U.S.-based private lenders stonewall to obtain better deals. 52% of the ...
Category: Loans
If You Lead a Developing Country and Want to Borrow Money From China, Then Listen to This Podcast
The days of China easily handing out billions of dollars to build infrastructure in developing countries around the world are now over. The Chinese can't afford it anymore and many of the borrowing countries just don't have the capacity to take ...
South African Utility Boss’s Trip to China Sparks Outrage Back Home Where Millions Fume Without Power
The acting CEO of troubled South African state-owned utility Eskom, Calib Cassim, provoked widespread outrage late last week when it was revealed that he led a high-level delegation to China that also included Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. Civil society ...
The Real Drivers and Impacts of Chinese Overseas Lending and Development Finance
By Oyintarelado Moses Debates about the drivers and impacts of Chinese overseas lending and development finance (OLDF) have accompanied the rise of China as the world’s largest official bilateral lender. Amidst stalled debt negotiations under the ...
New African Debt Database Shows Chinese Loans Are Cheap, But Not the Cheapest
Researchers at the Kiel Institue for the World Economy in Germany launched a new database of African debt that confirms a key Chinese talking point: Beijing's loans to African countries are significantly cheaper than those of commercial creditors. However, David Mihalyi and ...
China’s Lending Money Again to Countries in the Americas
Chinese lending to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is gaining momentum. For the second year in a row, China's two largest policy banks have increased lending to countries in the region, albeit in much smaller amounts than what they ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Proposed New York Law Could Reshape Debt Negotiations Around the World
Lending Data Offers Clue to China’s Global South Influence
A new report led by the U.S.-based research center AidData is drawing global attention this week. It shows that from 2008 to 2021, China spent $240 billion in bailouts and liquidity support to 22 Global South countries. Even though the report focuses ...
Benin’s Finance Minister Meets With China Exim Bank President
Beninese Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni is in Beijing this week, where he met with China Exim Bank President Ren Shengjun. Neither side released details of the meeting, but it does highlight how China Exim Bank is continuing to engage African governments ...
Another $4 Billion on the Table? The Role of China’s Sinosure in Africa’s Debt Negotiations
By Oyintarelado Moses On February 17, 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) convened a roundtable discussion on sovereign debt restructuring, bringing together creditor and debtor stakeholders involved with ongoing and upcoming debt restructurings. Leading ...
India Thinks It Can Persuade China to Take Big Losses on Its Loans to Poor Countries
The Indian government, in its role as rotating head of the Group of 20, is drafting what will no doubt be a controversial proposal that calls on all major international creditors, namely China, to take large losses on its loans to poor countries.
China Blocked Kenya From Getting Competitive Bids to Build Costly Railway, Supreme Court Told
Kenya’s Supreme Court hearings into the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) deal are revealing a deal tainted by collusion between Chinese and Kenyan actors. The account emerging from testimony shows that the deal defied oversight from the start. COMPETITIVE BIDDING: Financing depended on China ...