G20 finance ministers and central bankers will meet from February 22-25 to discuss the growing debt problems of developing countries due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
India supports pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the United States for the so-called Common Framework – a G20 initiative launched in 2020 to help poor countries delay debt repayments – to be expanded to include to middle-income countries.
Lindner argues that this framework should first be tested with poor countries before it is extended to middle-income countries: “We cannot take the third step without taking the second.”
However, Lindner added that he sees a lot of potential in the Common Framework, so now all stakeholders need to be brought to the table to jointly decide which instrument to choose.
No country can shirk its responsibility, he said, without implicitly mentioning China.
