Chad: First Country Requests Debt Relief from G20 Process

Chad became the first country to officially seek debt reduction under a G20-established coronavirus response process. In the fall, the G20 approved the “Common Framework for Debt Treatment beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative.” Up to 73 of the world’s poorest countries could seek support under the mechanism.

"This is the first test of the G20 debt reduction process and the process must deliver serious relief for Chad," stated Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. "Before the coronavirus struck, half of Chad's people lived in poverty and 20% of Chad's kids would never live to their fifth birthday."

Before the G20 authorized the new debt framework, the G20 stopped debt payments for poor countries like Chad. Private creditors and commercial banks refused to stop collecting debt payments as countries suffered from the coronavirus.

“Roughly half of Chad’s debt is in the hands of private creditors,“ noted LeCompte, a UN finance expert. “One of the biggest tests of the new G20 debt reduction process will be whether or not the private sector will be pushed to participate."