The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday that it will hold a meeting on Friday with the World Bank, India, China, Saudi Arabia, the US and other ‘Group of Seven’ countries. All these will discuss how to improve the condition of the debt-ridden countries. The report quoted an Indian official as saying that ‘India is preparing a proposal’ to try to persuade countries like China to make a big cut in debt to the troubled countries.
India’s neighbors trapped in China’s debt trap
Officials said that China and other G-20 countries are aware of this. Two neighboring countries of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are currently in economic crisis. Both do not have foreign exchange to pay for important imports. Both are seeking international help to avoid collapse. Sri Lanka owes $7.4 billion to Chinese lenders by the end of 2022, according to calculations by the China Africa Research Initiative. At the same time, according to a report of the International Monetary Fund released in September last year, about 30 percent of Pakistan’s total foreign debt of $ 100 billion is with China alone.
‘Quran in one hand, nuclear bomb in the other’, poisonous words of Pakistani Maulana
Pakistan-Sri Lanka’s condition is bad
Last year, the patience of the people who were facing economic crisis in Sri Lanka was lost. After long anti-government protests, people became furious and attacked major buildings of the country like Rashtrapati Bhavan, Prime Minister’s residence. Pakistan also seems to be moving towards the same situation. Petrol in the country is being sold at Rs 272 per litre, people have no bread to eat and hours-long power cuts have made things worse. Shahbaz government is implementing more stringent measures to get loan from IMF.
