The Guardian: Pressure grows for developing world debt relief over coronavirus
“Calls for a comprehensive package of debt relief to help poor countries cope with the coronavirus pandemic have intensified after research showed that more than 60 countries are spending more on paying their creditors than they are on health. … Finance ministers will discuss debt relief at virtual meetings of the G20 group of leading developed and developing countries, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. The most likely outcome is thought to be a suspension of debt payments to other governments this year for the 76 countries classified as low-income by the World Bank because they qualify for grants and soft loans under its International Development Association (IDA) facility…” (Elliott, 4/12).

VOA News: Pakistan PM Seeks Debt Relief for Developing Nations to Fight Virus
“Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed to the international community Sunday to provide developing countries with an urgent debt relief to help tackle the COVID-19 crisis facing them. Khan made his ‘global initiative on debt relief’ appeal on a day when a World Bank report warned countries in South Asia, including Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, are on course to experience their worst economic performance in 40 years in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak…” (Gul, 4/12).

Washington Post: More than 90 countries plead for financial lifelines as coronavirus wreaks economic havoc across the globe
“Global financial leaders are facing calls to speed emergency help to roughly one-half of the countries on the planet, as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to wreck the health and finances of billions of people in the developing world. The United States, Europe, and Japan are sinking into what many economists say will be the worst global recession since the 1930s amid efforts to halt the runaway respiratory illness. But deteriorating conditions in dozens of emerging markets could add to the industrial economies’ pain and complicate their eventual recovery. If left unchecked, the catastrophe descending upon countries such as South Africa, Brazil, India, and Lebanon could shake the industrialized world…” (Lynch, 4/12).