Ethiopia among latest countries to get Paris Club debt relief

The Paris Club of creditor nations have agreed to suspend debt service payments from Chad, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Republic of Congo as part of a G20 debt relief deal, the group said.

The Group of 20 leading economies and the Paris Club, an informal group of state creditors coordinated by the French finance ministry, agreed in April to freeze debt payments of the 77 poorest countries this year to free up cash to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest agreements bring to 12 the number of countries to receive debt relief under the deal with a total of $1.1 billion in debt deferred as a result, the Paris Club said, adding 30 countries had requested to benefit.

The Group of 20 leading economies and the Paris Club, an informal group of state creditors coordinated by France’s finance ministry, agreed in April freeze the debt payments of the 77 poorest countries this year to free up cash for them to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

However, some debtor countries have hesitated to sign up, fearing that it could hurt their credit rating after ratings agencies said a failure to pay private creditors who had agreed to suspend debt payments in parallel with the Club could be considered a default.

Kenya’s Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani told Reuters in May that this was one of the reasons Nairobi would not apply.

So far, the Paris Club has signed agreements only with the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Grenada, and Mali and Nepal, the French source said.