China owed US$385B in loans from 165 countries, including ‘hidden debt’ from poor nations: report – By Devika Desai (The National Post) / Sept 30 2021
The study found 42 low to middle-income countries, such as Laos, Papua New Guinea, the Maldives, owe debt to China exceeding 10% of their GDP
One hundred and sixty five countries owe a total of US$385 billion in ‘hidden debts’ to China, by participating in belt-and-road initiatives (BRI), a study had found, with 42 poorer countries owing debt exceeding 10 per cent of their individual GDP.
AidData, a U.S.-based research firm, found that that several of the loans have also been underreported to the World Bank, kept off the public balance sheets by way of special purpose and semi-private loans.
The loans are “substantially greater” than research institutions, credit rating agencies or intergovernmental organizations with surveillance responsibilities “previously understood,” reads the study published on Wednesday
Global organizations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund were aware of the problem, AidData stated, but the report quantified the scale of how much went underreported.
