Top creditors to suspend poorest countries' debt payments - France

Major international creditors have agreed to suspend debt payments owed by the poorest countries this year, throwing a financial lifeline to help them through the coronavirus crisis, France's finance minister said on Tuesday.

Some 76 countries, of which 40 are in sub-Sahara Africa, were eligible to have debt payments worth a combined $20 billion suspended, out of a total of $32 billion the countries were to spend on debt servicing this year. "We have obtained a debt moratorium at the level of bilateral creditors and private creditors for a total of $20 billion euros," Le Maire told journalists.

The government creditors, including not only the Paris Club but also China, are to suspend $12 billion under the agreement, which remains to be finalized on Wednesday. Private creditors have agreed on a voluntary basis to roll over or refinance $8 billion in debt, a French finance ministry source said.

Of the total $32 billion due this year, the remaining 12 billion euros is owed by multilateral lenders, mainly the World Bank. Le Maire urged such lenders to join the initiative.