Pakistan, among other developing countries, is likely to save $2.4 billion in the ongoing year through participation in a debt relief program, the global lender has revealed.
In total, the developing countries will save up to $12 billion (9.71 billion pounds) owed to sovereign and other lenders this year.
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In its report, the World Bank has estimated that Pakistan is the second country after Angola (with $3.4 billion savings) to benefit from the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) from the sovereign creditors. It is followed by Kenya with $802 million, according to the data.
The DSSI has the support of the G-20 countries, the World Bank, the IMF and the Paris Club of sovereign lenders. Unlike some other debt relief programs, DSSI offers only short-term relief as it postpones payments until the end of the year but does not cancel them outright.
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If savings are compared with the gross domestic product, Bhutan would reap the most benefits from the plan with 7.3% of GDP savings, followed by Angola at 3.7% and Djibouti at 2.5%.
The World Bank and IMF officials had warned that the pandemic will strike the developing and emerging countries hard owing to a high level of debt, a sharp drop in oil and other commodity prices, and broken healthcare systems.
Via: Reuters
