Around the World
Debt burden of the least developed nations rises to $744 billion – World Bank
Total external debt of the least developed countries under the DSSI increased to $744 billion in 2019.
The total external debt of the least developed countries under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) has increased by 9.55% to $744 billion in 2019.
This was disclosed in the World Bank’s International Debt Statistics 2021 released in Washington D.C. on Monday.
According to the report, the figure was equivalent on average to one-third of the countries’ combined gross national income.
READ: Nigeria total public debt hits N31 trillion as debt service gulp over N1.2 trillion in H1 2020
It stated, “Lending from private creditors was the fastest-growing component of the external debt of DSSI-eligible borrowers, up five-fold since 2010. Obligations to private creditors totaled $102 billion at the end of 2019. The debt stock of DSSI-eligible countries to official bilateral creditors composed mostly of Group of 20 (G-20) countries, reached $178 billion in 2019 and accounted for 27% of the long-term debt stock of low-income countries.”
According to the report, this highlights an urgent need for creditors and borrowers alike to collaborate and stave off the growing risk of sovereign-debt crises triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
READ: Nigeria’s total public debt stock increased by N2.381 trillion in 3 months
It added that the pace of debt accumulation for these countries was near twice the rate of other low- and middle-income countries in 2019.
The report said that in response to an urgent need for greater debt transparency, this edition provided more detailed and disaggregated data on external debt than ever before in its nearly 70-year history.
READ: First Bank is cutting inefficiencies and focusing on its strengths
According to the report, details include breakdowns of what each borrowing country owes to official and private creditors in each creditor country and the expected month-by-month debt-service payments owed to them through 2021.
Pre-COVID
The World Bank said that before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising public debt levels were already a cause for concern, particularly in many of the world’s poorest countries as discussed in its Four Waves of Debt report published in December 2019.
READ: Nigeria’s debt rises to $79.5 billion, as debt to revenue ratio worsens
“Responding to a call from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the G20 endorsed the DSSI in April 2020 to help up to 73 of the poorest countries manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The debt stock of DSSI-eligible countries to official bilateral creditors, composed by mostly G-20 countries, reached 178 billion dollars in 2019 and accounted for 17% of long-term net debt flows to low and middle-income countries. Within the G-20 creditor group, there have been some important shifts characterized by a marked increase in lending by G-20 member countries that are themselves middle-income countries,” it added.
READ: Nigeria records lowest remittances from abroad since 2008
Citing China as an example, though by far the largest creditor, it had seen its share of the combined debt owed to G-20 countries rise from 45% in 2013 to 63% at the end of 2019.
It said that over the same period, the share for Japan, the second-largest G-20 creditor, had remained broadly the same at 15%.
READ: LCCI condemns Senate over Buhari’s $22.7 billion loan approval
Around the World
Trump to return to social media with his own platform in 2 months
Over 2 months after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook, others, Donald Trump is working on making a return.
Former US President, Donald Trump, will be back on social media in the near future, over 2 months after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook, and others.
This follows plans by the former President to launch his own social media platform within the next 2 or 3 months.
This disclosure was made by Trump’s Senior Adviser, Jason Miller, on Sunday, March 22, 2021, during a chat with Fox News’ #MediaBuzz.
READ: President Biden revokes Trump’s ban for green card applicants in US
What Donald Trump’s Senior Adviser is saying
Jason Miller, who was a spokesman for Trump’s 2020 campaign, told the media network that the former President would soon get back to social media space with a new platform of his own that would completely redefine the game.
Miller, while talking to Fox News, said, “I do think that we’re going to see President Trump returning to social media in probably about two or three months here, with his own platform. And this is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media; it’s going to completely redefine the game, and everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what exactly President Trump does.”
Although he did not provide more in terms of details, Miller revealed that Trump had been having high-powered meetings at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, with various teams regarding the venture, and that numerous companies had approached Trump.
Miller said the new platform was going to be big, while also predicting that Trump would draw tens of millions of people.
In case you missed it
- It can be recalled that former President Trump was banned from Twitter after the January 6, attack on the Capitol by his supporters. He was accused of inciting his supporters after he rejected the US Presidential election result which he claimed was a fraud.
- Twitter last week said it would seek public input on when and how it should ban world leaders, saying it was reviewing its policy and considering whether leaders should be held to the same rules as other users.
Around the World
Tesla investor sues Elon Musk for causing problems with his tweets
An investor in the US electric car maker, Tesla, has sued the company’s founder, Elon Musk over alleged erratic tweets.
Elon Musk, the controversial multi-billionaire is being sued by an investor in his company. Musk is being accused by the investor of unsettling the markets and exposing his investors to high risk with his “erratic tweets”.
Chase Garrity an investor in the US electric car maker, Tesla, has sued the founder of the company for his erratic Twitter messaging which according to him, has exposed the company to high legal risks and billions in price losses.
The 105-page lawsuit was published in the US court of Delaware and it accuses Musk of violating the settlement negotiated with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018.
READ: Battle of Titans: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos share world’s richest title
The lawsuit also includes the entire Tesla board and its supervisory body for not calling Musk to order.
In May 2020 Musk caused a 14 billion dollar loss in market value on a single trading day with a series of unguarded tweets. He tweeted about Tesla’s market value being too high and how he was going to dispose of all physical assets.
The lawsuit stated that any further unbridled tweet from Musk would have dire consequences for Tesla’s future funding opportunities.
READ: Elon Musk gains $25 billion in a day, as Tesla surges by 20%
What you should know
- Remember Nairametrics posted a story on how Musk tweets once again caused a serious ripple effect in the crypto world. His tweet helped Bitcoin gain $6000. He later invested heavily in Bitcoin.
- Manager Magazine stated that analysts are not comfortable with such a move and view it as some kind of manipulation.
- Musk in April last year posted a joke photo of Tesla going bankrupt. This once again unsettled investors.
- Tesla Management has not released a statement on this fresh lawsuit.
