Devex features Eric LeCompte's comments on the recent G20 negotiations and debt relief plan. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full story.

'Intense' G20 negotiations fall short on debt support expectations

The G-20 extended its debt suspension initiative but otherwise fell short of what low-income countries, advocates, and World Bank President David Malpass had hoped it would do to help countries facing debt challenges in the wake of COVID-19.

The G-20 communique was the result of “intense” negotiations, Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, told Devex.

The inability to come to an agreement on the debt reduction framework came down generally to tensions around how extensive a restructuring process should be and whether it would include other low- and middle-income countries beyond those eligible for DSSI. China, India, and Turkey had concerns about agreeing to a process without a resolution to questions about who it impacts, LeCompte said. Some countries, specifically China, may need to change their laws to participate in a debt reduction process, he added.

“I think this is the most important thing that the G-20 is dealing with right now, how to move forward a debt reduction framework, who is included, how to handle the private sector,” he said.