US, China Exploring New Debt Relief Options to Avoid Wave of Emerging-Market Defaults
- Potentially biggest joint economic project in years for rivals
- Ideas include extending repayment terms before defaults
This article is for subscribers only.
The US and China are discussing new measures to prevent a wave of emerging market sovereign defaults, according to people familiar with the situation, one of the most significant attempts in years at economic cooperation between the rival superpowers.
The talks — including ways to preemptively extend loan periods before countries miss payments — are broadly aimed at both easing the $400 billion-plus annual debt service burden for poor countries and finding an alternative to the high borrowing rates those nations now face in the market.