World Bank Directors Parley FG, Govs, IMF Laments Africa’s Rising Debt, Deficits
A team of 10 World Bank executive directors will on Wednesday meet with high-level Federal and State Government officials as well as leaders of the organized private sector in Nigeria, coming against the backdrop of concerns over the growing risk of debt distress among Sub-Saharan African countries, resulting from heavy borrowing and gaping deficits, despite an overall uptick in economic growth. This is the summary of the economic outlook for the region, a publication of the International Monetary Fund, a member of the World Bank Group, according to Reuters on Tuesday. An estimated 40% of low-income countries in the region are now in debt distress or at high risk of it, Reuters quoted the IMF report as saying, warning that refinancing such debt could soon become costlier. Six countries – Chad, Eritrea, Mozambique, Congo Republic, South Sudan and Zimbabwe – were judged to be in debt distress at the end of last year. And the IMF’s ratings for Zambia and Ethiopia were changed fr...