The World Bank announced on Sunday that 26 of the world's poorest countries, including Afghanistan, Yemen, Ethiopia and North Korea, are “in their deepest debt since 2006”.
World Bank Report on Poverty, Prosperity and the Planet noticed After the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, “poverty reduction has slowed significantly.”
“Poor countries fared worse than economically wealthy countries in responding to the pandemic. Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East subsequently disrupted supplies of food grains and fuel,” the report said.
The result was global poverty. rising This makes the World Bank's goal of reducing extreme poverty to 3 percent of the world's population by 2030 “unattainable.”
If current trends continue, that goal could be achieved as early as 2055, and eradicating “middle-income” poverty (earning less than $6.85 per day) could take another century. There is sex.
“Simply put, the 2020s are shaping up to be a lost decade – not just for some countries but for the world as a whole,” the World Bank reached a heartbreaking conclusion. There was some hope that things were starting to happen. I decided to refuse again.
Most of the poorest countries on the World Bank's radar are in sub-Saharan Africa, but the more relevant common denominator may be brutal authoritarian and Marxist governments, often combined with internal conflict and minimal Even humanitarian aid is becoming difficult to deliver.
The report asserted that high levels of income inequality contributed to poverty. This is not only because of the usual caricatures of capitalist exploitation, but also because brutal dictatorships tend to have a very wealthy ruling class and a very poor peasant class.
The World Bank delicately pointed out that “highly unequal economies” are “concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean,” precisely because these regions are dominated by self-styled socialist strongmen and warlords. tends to be dominated by By capturing a large portion of the nation's meager wealth, these ruling elites are able to live a life of luxury while their citizens struggle to survive. Elites have little incentive to focus on poverty reduction and, on the contrary, find it easier to control and terrorize the poor.
“Accelerating the reduction of inequality within countries will accelerate progress in poverty reduction. It will also build stronger foundations for peace and stability,” the report asserted.
The World Bank is also concerned that poverty will hinder efforts to combat climate change, and once again undermines the brutally simple point that environmental protection is a luxury that the poor cannot afford. is avoided.
The report went on to say that while rich countries have been able to “protect almost all of their citizens from extreme weather events,” poorer countries are suffering horrific tolls from storms, earthquakes, landslides and floods.
The World Bank advised the poorest countries to “prioritize long-term growth and improving health and education” while “being careful not to become trapped in carbon-intensive technologies and growth strategies.”
“Eliminating poverty for the 3 billion people living on less than $6.85 a day will come at a significant cost to the environment. By mid-century, global emissions will increase by nearly 50 percent above 2019 levels. ” the report agonizes.
World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill issued statement The report praised the bank's International Development Association (IDA) for keeping 26 of the poorest countries “afloat” through the pandemic and its aftermath.
“IDA was their lifeline at a time when many countries in the world were simply retreating from the poorest countries,” Gill said.
However, the World Bank says that government debt now consumes 72% of economic output in these poor countries, the highest level in 18 years, and that government debt is currently consuming 72% of economic output in these poor countries, an 18-year high and He pointed out that this means it is difficult to take on further debt.
Another source of debt for developing countries is the huge debts they took on from Chinese banks to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), but the World Bank does not mention those loans. The report mentions it only to celebrate that China has “virtually eradicated extremism.” Poverty within borders.”
wilson center noticed In January, it was announced that “80% of Chinese government loans to developing countries go to countries in debt crisis.'' Despite the World Bank's self-congratulations about IDA's success, many poor countries rely on the Belt and Road as a source of development financing, often spending that money on projects of questionable economic value.
It is strange that the World Bank did not mention Chinese loans as part of the overwhelming debt burden faced by poor countries, but it comes as the Wilson Center has been the most vocal in warning about the Chinese debt trap. This is because he mentioned that it is the World Bank that is in charge.
The terms of Belt and Road loans are often hidden from public view by strict non-disclosure agreements, which has raised alarms at institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Concerns about the broader impact of the Belt and Road model have only grown with sovereign debt defaults in countries such as Sri Lanka, whose new international airport and port city have failed to attract international investors, and Zambia, whose largest creditor is China. Ta. As a result, rising inflation, a weak currency, and rising poverty levels caused political upheaval. In July last year, demonstrators attacked Sri Lanka's prime minister's and presidential palaces, and this summer in Kenya, more than a dozen people were killed in nationwide protests against significant new taxes to repay foreign creditors. died.
… The costs of debt distress can have very real effects on the human body. For example, a recent Associated Press analysis of Chinese lending to Zambia found that billions of dollars in loans for infrastructure projects were effective in accelerating economic growth, but at the same time “external interest payments were very high; It turned out that the government had almost no funds left and was forced to seek government funding. The aim is to cut spending on health care, social services, and subsidies to farmers for seeds and fertilizers. ” Kenya is facing default and thousands of public servants' salaries are being garnished. David Ndi, the president's chief economic adviser, put it bluntly on social media: Please choose. ”
Analysts say more than half of China's loans to developing countries are coming due, meaning the burden of Belt and Road debt is “likely to increase significantly in the coming years.” He pointed out that there was.
