Economics
Debt Relief for Poor Nations Not an Easy Sell to Bondholders
- No precedent, and holdout risks could complicate standstill
- Some investors see debt pause as best option amid crisis
Members of the Argentinean military distribute food to people affected by the coronavirus lockdown in Quilmes, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Photographer: Sarah Pabst/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A pause in debt payments for the world’s poorest countries to help them battle the coronavirus will be a hard sell for private creditors.
The Group of 20 leading economies last week heeded calls from African finance ministers to grant a debt waiver of about $20 billion until the end of the year, and asked private creditors to step up.