United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has said that 54 countries that are home to more than half of the world’s poorest population were in dire need of debt relief.
UNDP Chief Economist George Gray Molina has said that the countries at the most immediate risk were Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Tunisia, Chad and Zambia.
UNDP warned that rapidly increasing debt crisis was being faced by the dozens of developing nations.
According to UNDP, at least 54 countries would witness rise in poverty levels and therefore were in desperate need of investment in climate adaptation and mitigation.
According to international media reports, UNDP in its report has further said that the situation was worrisome since the affected countries were among the most climate-vulnerable in the world.
UNDP Chief Achim Steiner, while talking to reporters in Geneva, said that the risks have been growing whereas little had happened so far. He also said, “That crisis is intensifying and threatening to spill over into an entrenched development crisis across dozens of countries across the world.”
The report has stated that according to data, 46 out of the 54 countries amassed public debt totaling $782 billion in the year 2020. It also stated that Argentina, Ukraine and Venezuela had accounted for more than one third of the amount.
Gray Molina said that the biggest obstacle to moving forward was private creditors. He suggested that the way for a debt deal could be paved by the current market conditions.
