REUTERS NEXT-World Bank chief says poorest countries owe $62 bln on bilateral debt

The world's poorest countries now owe $62 billion in annual debt service to official bilateral creditors, an increase of 35% over the past year, World Bank President David Malpass said on Thursday, warning that the increased burden is increasing the risk of defaults.

Malpass told the Reuters NEXT conference in New York that two thirds of this debt burden is now owed to China, providing some details of the development lender's annual debt statistics report due next week. "I'm worried about a disorderly default process where there's not a system to really address" debts for poorer countries," Malpass said.