The big financiers of the G20 countries announced, Wednesday, April 7, a new six-month extension, until the end of 2021, of the moratorium on the debt of the poorest countries, hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have decided to extend the initiative to suspend the debt service of the most vulnerable countries until the end of 2021”, said Italian Economy Minister Daniele Franco during a videoconference meeting chaired by Italy, adding that it is the “Last” extension.
Increase the IMF’s lending capacity
The G20 also supported the initiative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to increase aid to the most vulnerable countries, in the form of a new issue of special drawing rights (SDRs) in the amount of of $ 650 billion. This issue, the first since the financial crisis of 2009, will increase the IMF’s lending capacity.
The moratorium on the payment of interest on the debt of the poorest countries was decided by the G20 last April, in the midst of the pandemic, and extended in October until June 30, 2021.
World Bank President David Malpass welcomed the new extension, while calling on G20 countries to demonstrate “Greater transparency”.
“I urge all G20 countries to publish the terms of their financing contracts, including rescheduling, and to support the World Bank’s efforts to match borrowers ‘debt data with creditors’ data.”, he said. The impact of this initiative was quite limited, as private creditors did not participate.
To date, 46 countries, out of the 73 eligible, have requested and obtained a deferral of the payment of interest, for an amount of 5.7 billion dollars.
In November, a new step was taken with the adoption by the G20 finance ministers of a “Common framework” to reduce the debt burden, an initiative they committed to implementing on Wednesday “Open and transparent”.
Global minimum corporate tax rate
On the American proposal to relaunch the work of a global minimum tax on companies, the G20 countries have not gone too far. They just said they were staying “Committed to finding a global and consensual solution (…) by mid-2021 “. Negotiations on this reform, conducted under the aegis of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), had failed in the fall due to the American blockage; the change in attitude of the new administration fuels the hope of an agreement in the summer. The thresholds mentioned for such a minimum rate range from 12.5% to 21%.
The reform of this international tax system concerns two aspects: the establishment of a world minimum rate and a system aimed at modulating corporate tax according to the profits made in each country, regardless of their tax establishment.
This last aspect particularly concerns the Internet giants, many of which practice tax optimization, establishing their headquarters where the tax rate is lowest.