The issue of temporary suspension of debt service for the poorest countries, including the Central African Republic through the G20, was at the heart of discussions this Wednesday, May 6, between the Minister of Finance and Budget Henri-Marie Dondra and the resident representative from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Victor Davies, as well as the chief operating officer of the World Bank (WB) Han Fraeters. Discussions on the measures concerning this historic act of international solidarity took place in the office of the Minister of Finance and Budget.
The G20 press release specifies that this concerns interest and principal on debts due between May 1 and December 31, 2020. It is actually 8 months of debt service which is suspended and not the whole of the debt for the year 2020.
This suspension is not to be assimilated to a cancellation of debts. For all eligible countries, debt service for the current year is estimated at $ 140 billion. However, reimbursement of suspended amounts will be made over a period of three years, after a grace period of one year.
This suspension of debt service will generate savings to cover the expenses caused by the covid-19 pandemic and possibly help CAR, like other modest countries, to cope with the health and economic impacts of coronavirus pandemic.
Minister Dondra, for his part, considered that this saving achieved represents a drop in the ocean, given the immensity of the needs of the populations and would not make it possible to effectively support the determination of the national authorities to protect human life and to stem the impact of the pandemic on the Central African economy and society.
