UPDATE 1-Nigeria urges 'appropriate' debt solutions for middle-income countries

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WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) - Nigeria's finance minister
said a debt relief agreement reached this week to help the
world's poorest countries deal with the coronavirus pandemic was
a welcome first step but that middle-income countries with debt
challenges also needed urgent help.
In remarks to be delivered at Friday's meeting of the World
Bank's Development Committee, Zainab Ahmed said most countries
in sub-Saharan African were particularly vulnerable to the
pandemic because high rates of self-employment meant social
distancing could not be sustained for long.
The African continent, which has some 400 million people
living in poverty, also had weak health systems that were
grossly inadequate to test for the COVID-19 respiratory disease
caused by the coronavirus and manage those infected, she said.
Many African countries have also been hit by a slowdown in
remittances from citizens living overseas, a sharp outflow of
capital and a collapse in commodity prices. At the same time,
export bans were causing shortages of medical supplies and food,
she said.
The International Monetary Fund this week forecast that
sub-Saharan Africa would see a 1.6% contraction in gross
domestic product this year, because of the pandemic, and a host
of other challenges.
Coronavirus cases in Africa could shoot up to 10 million
within three to six months from thousands now, according to
provisional modeling, a regional World Health Organization (WHO)
official said on Thursday. Ahmed, who also spoke on behalf of Angola and South Africa,
supported a call by African leaders for $100 billion in aid for
the continent to deal with the pandemic, with $44 billion
earmarked for immediate debt relief.
She welcomed an agreement by the Group of 20 major economies
(G20) and the Paris Club of official creditors to suspend debt
payments for the poorest countries through the end of the year,
and urged the Bank and other multilateral institutions to
explore ways of participating in the debt relief initiative.
"Developing countries need all the assistance they can get
to gain the fiscal space required to respond to this pandemic,"
she said, adding that commercial creditors should also take part
on comparable terms.
Ahmed also called on all creditors, working with the World
Bank and IMF, to explore a "range of appropriate solutions" for
middle-income countries that are also facing fiscal constraints
and debt challenges.
"Urgent assistance to these countries is critical given the
importance of their economies for the growth and development of
their regions," she said.