G20 commits to Debt Service Suspension Initiative in close coordination

22:54, November 13, 2020

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  Minister: China backs G20 debt relief plan

  A file photo shows a pedestrian walks past the headquarters building of the Peoples Bank of China in Beijing, capital of China. (Photo: Xinhua)China will continue to support the Group of 20s debt treatment framework for low-income countries, helping them ease potential solvency risks and promote post-pandemic economic recovery, Finance Minister Liu Kun said in a recent statement.The message showed the Chinese governments firm commitment to promote multilateral cooperation and actively participate in global actions related to debt issues, experts said.Chinas response to the G20 debt relief plan will help the poorest countries redirect resources from servicing debt to mitigating the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts told China Daily after a virtual meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors held on Friday.Participants finalized documents of the plan－the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative. The initiative focused on providing lower income countries a moratorium on bilateral government loan repayments, under which 73 eligible countries can apply to G20 governments and their policy banks to postpone debt repayments.Liu said that China, for the first time, is participating in a multilateral debt coordination process－the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative and the upcoming debt treatments procedure－under a common framework, according to a statement posted on the Ministry of Finance website after the meeting.Chinese official bilateral creditors have fully implemented applications of debt relief required by the G20 initiative, Liu said after he participated in the meeting with other G20 finance ministers and central bank governors.As a commercial lender, China Development Bank has "proactively responded to and participated in the debt relief initiative following self-determined and market-oriented principles", he added.China is a country that has provided the larges...

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  S.Korea’s Korean Air to acquire Asiana Airlines

  16 -- Korean Air Lines, South Korea’s biggest air carrier, will acquire the country’s debt-ridden second-biggest air carrier, Asiana Airlines, Yonhap news agency reported on Monday citing the state-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB).The KDB, one of the major creditors of the debt-laden airline, wil

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  Macron calls for EU-wide coordination in response to terrorism

  French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday called for enhanced efforts across the European Union (EU) to fight terrorism in a "rapid, coordinated and joint" approach, noting many European cities have been troubled by the problem.French President Emmanuel Macron. (File photo: Xinhua) Macron made the plea at a joint press conference together with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after he hosted a virtual meeting discussing the matter.The one-hour online meeting came a week after a shooting rampage that killed four people in the heart of Vienna, which followed an assault at a church in the French city of Nice and the beheading of a teacher in Paris suburb weeks earlier.At Tuesdays roundtable, the leaders prioritized the implementation of a series of ongoing measures including the development of databases, inter-governmental work to improve security coordination and the exchange of information.Echoing Michel and Merkel, von der Leyen said the best way of tackling terrorism is "to make sure that these young people have a future," adding that "we need to work on the training on how to better integrate people."Both von der Leyen and Merkel mentioned the possibility that a proposal on quickly removing hate speeches on the internet could be adopted by the end of this year.Macron also spoke about the much-needed reform to the Schengen area as well as measures to fight illegal migration.The ideas were backed by Merkel, who said this became an urgent matter after the most recent terror attacks. "We will be recording who is coming in but also who is leaving the European Union. We need to know both," she said.The German chancellor noted that the enhanced effort was "not to fight against Islam, nor a fight between Christianity and Islam."She stressed the ne...