發展中國家面臨債務的危機（2/2）

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

The developing countries facing a debt crisis (2/2)

Wed, April 5, 2023 at 7:16 a.m. PDT

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PAKISTAN

Months of political and economic turmoil, worsened by crippling floods last year and record inflation, put Pakistan in the danger zone.

China agreed to refinance $1.8 billion already credited to Pakistan's central bank, and last month rolled over a $2 billion loan that had matured earlier in March, providing relief during Pakistan's acute balance of payments crisis.

But talks with the IMF for a delayed $1.1 billion loan tranche, part of $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019, have dragged on and foreign exchange reserves have fallen to less than four weeks of imports.

TUNISIA

The tourism-dependent North African economy is in the throes of a punishing crisis that led to a shortage of basic food items.

A $1.9 billion IMF loan has been stalled for months as Tunisia's president has shown little sign of action on key reforms. Most debt is internal but foreign loan repayments are due later this year. Credit ratings agencies have said Tunisia may default.

SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka defaulted on its international debt last year after economic mismanagement, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, sparked a political crisis and left it without dollars for even essential imports.

The IMF signing a $3 billion bailout package last month could help the South Asian island country secure additional support of nearly $4 billion from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other lenders.

Government officials aim to complete debt restructuring talks by September. Sri Lanka is also reworking part of its domestic debt and aims to finalize it by May.

UKRAINE

Ukraine just received the first $2.7 billion tranche under a four-year, $15.6 billion IMF loan program. This is part of a bigger $115 billion global package of support.

The country suspended all debt payments last year in the wake of Russia's invasion, and will need to restructure its borrowings if and when the situation stabilises.

The IMF estimates Ukraine needs $3-$4 billion a month to keep the country running. Rebuilding Ukraine's economy is now expected to cost $411 billion, a recent report by the World Bank and others found.

ZAMBIA

The first African country to default during the COVID-19 era in 2020, Zambia is seen as a litmus test for the G20's Common Framework initiative set up during the pandemic to streamline debt restructurings. But talks have been remarkably slow, and external debt crept up to $18.6 billion.

Western officials have blamed China, its largest bilateral lender, for the hold-up, something that China disputes. There have been broad disagreements about how much debt the country can afford going forward.

Zambia's currency, the kwacha, has fallen more than 10% against the U.S. dollar this year, which the central bank has said is adding to inflation. It blamed the drop partly on debt restructuring delays.

(Reporting by Marc Jones, Rachel Savage, Karin Strohecker and Libby George, editing by Mark Heinrich)

Translation

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巴基斯坦

數月的政治和經濟動盪，加上去年嚴重的洪水和創紀錄的通貨膨脹，使巴基斯坦陷入險境。

中國同意對已經記入巴基斯坦中央銀行的 18 億美元進行再融資，並於上月把3 月初到期的 20 億美元貸款展期，緩解了巴基斯坦嚴重的國際收支危機。

但與國際貨幣基金組織就一筆已延遲的 11 億美元的貸款（2019 年達成的 65 億美元救助計劃的一部分）進行的談判一拖再拖，外匯儲備已降至不到 4 週的進口額。

突尼斯

依賴旅遊業的北非經濟正處於一場懲罰性危機的陣痛中，這場危機導致基本食品短缺。

由於突尼斯總統在關鍵改革方面幾乎沒有表現出任何行動跡象，因此國際貨幣基金組織的 19 億美元貸款已被擱置數月。 大多數債務是內部債務，但外國貸款的償還將於今年晚些時候到期。 信用評級機構稱突尼斯有可能違約。

斯里蘭卡

斯里蘭卡去年因 COVID-19 病毒大流行加劇了經濟管理不善而拖欠國際債務，引發了政治危機，甚至連用於基本進口的美元都沒有。

國際貨幣基金組織上個月簽署了一項 30 億美元的救助計劃，可以幫助這個南亞島國從世界銀行、亞洲開發銀行和其他貸方那裡獲得近 40 億美元的額外支持。

政府官員的目標是在 9 月之前完成債務重組談判。 斯里蘭卡也在重組部分國內債務，目標是在 5 月前完成。

烏克蘭

烏克蘭剛剛收到國際貨幣基金組織一項為期四年、價值 156 億美元的貸款計劃下的第一筆 27 億美元貸款。 這是規模更大的全球一攬子1,150 億美元的支持計劃的一部分。

去年俄羅斯入侵後，該國暫停了所有債務支付，當在局勢穩定後，將需要重組其借款。

國際貨幣基金組織估計，烏克蘭每月需要 30 至 40 億美元才能維持國家運轉。 世界銀行和其他機構最近的一份報告發現，目前重建烏克蘭經濟預計將耗資 4,110 億美元。

贊比亞

贊比亞是 2020 年 COVID-19 時代第一個違約的非洲國家，它被視為 G20 在病毒大流行期間為簡化債務重組而設立的共同框架倡議的試金石。 但談判進展緩慢，外債攀升至 186 億美元。

西方官員指責中國作為最大的雙邊貸款人在阻礙進展，中國對此表示反對。 對於該國未來可以負擔多少債務存在廣泛分歧。

贊比亞貨幣克瓦查今年兌美元匯率下跌超過 10%，央行稱這加劇了通貨膨脹。 它將下跌部分原因歸咎於債務重組的延遲。

              So, a record number of developing nations are at risk of a debt crisis. Rising inflation, escalating borrowing costs and a strong dollar have made repaying loans significantly more expensive for many developing nations and pushing several countries into default. The economic outlook globally is not that positive at this moment. I am wondering why many countries prefer seeking loans from China instead of from the IMF or the World Bank. Is it easier to borrow money from China?