France urges debt freeze for poor countries hit by pandemic

PARIS - French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday called for a $500-billion war chest and a debt moratorium for developing countries, especially in Africa, to help them cope with the coronavirus crisis.

The world's poorest continent is far behind other regions in terms of confirmed cases and deaths but infections are rapidly increasing amid endemic poverty and often threadbare health care.

"We have the responsibility of avoiding a drama in developing nations, especially in Africa," Le Maire said, days after urging the G20 group of rich nations to take steps to help poor countries hit by the pandemic.

"We support a moratorium in the coming months on the debt of the poorest countries," he told reporters in Paris.

Le Maire also said France wanted an increase in special drawing rights (SDRs), the currency of the International Monetary Fund, to over $500 billion (460 billion euros) as well as "a swift new credit line to complement swap lines between central banks to support countries which are most in need."

Swap lines are temporary reciprocal currency arrangements between central banks primarily aimed to keep liquidity in the currency available, especially for countries that have debt in US dollars.

On March 25, the IMF and World Bank urged a freeze on debt repayments "to provide a global sense of relief for developing countries as well as a strong signal to financial markets."

Nearly 6,500 cases of coronavirus have been recorded across all of Africa, 238 of them fatal, according to an AFP toll.

South Africa is the worst-hit country on the continent with more than 1,400 cases, including five deaths.

Agence France-Presse

COVID-19 cases and deaths rising, debt relief needed for poorest nations: WHO

GENEVA -- The head of the World Health Organization voiced deep concern on Wednesday about the rapid escalation and global spread of COVID-19 cases from the new coronavirus, which has now reached 205 countries and territories.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that his agency, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund backed debt relief to help developing countries cope with the pandemic's social and economic consequences.

"In the past five weeks there has been a near-exponential growth in the number of new cases and the number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week," Tedros told a virtual news conference at the organization's Geneva headquarters.

"In the next few days we will reach 1 million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths worldwide," he said.

China, where the coronavirus outbreak first emerged in December, reported dwindling new infections on Wednesday and disclosed for the first time the number of asymptomatic cases, which could complicate how trends in the outbreak are read.

Asked about the distinction, Dr. Maria ver Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist who was part of an international team that went to China in February, said the WHO's definition included laboratory-confirmed cases "regardless of the development of symptoms".

"From data that we have seen from China in particular, we know that individuals who are identified, who are listed as asymptomatic, about 75 percent of those actually go on to develop symptoms," she said, describing them as having been in a "pre-symptomatic phase". The new coronavirus causes the respiratory disease COVID-19.

The outbreak continues to be driven by people who show signs of disease including fever and cough, but it is important for the WHO to capture that "full spectrum of illness", she added.

Tedros praised India's $22.6 billion economic stimulus plan - announced after a 21-day lockdown imposed last week - to provide free food rations for 800 million disadvantaged people, cash transfers to 204 million poor women and free cooking gas for 80 million households for the next 3 months.

"Many developing countries will struggle to implement social welfare programs of this nature," he said.

"For those countries, debt relief is essential to enable them to take care of their people and avoid economic collapse. This is a call from the WHO, the World Bank and IMF - debt relief for developing countries," he said.

But debt relief processes are lengthy, Tedros said.

"What we are proposing together with the World Bank and IMF is an expedited process to support countries so their economies will not be getting into crisis and their communities will not be really getting into crisis," he said. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Too much credit card debt? Read this

MANILA - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and member banks of the Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP) launched on Tuesday the Interbank Debt Relief Program that offers credit card loan restructuring.

Under the program, interest rates will be at 1.5 percent or lower depending on the profile of the credit card user.

It also allows repayment period to extend to as long as 10 years for severe cases of indebtedness.

To qualify for the program, credit card accounts must be at least 6 months old with an outstanding balance of at least P10,000 per card and total card obligations of at least P100,000 for all cards.

The program consolidates credit card debts from all banks and the bank with the biggest debt exposure to the applicant will take on the responsibility as the lead bank.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Choosing the best debt relief program for you

The key to getting out of debt is finding the right program of debt relief that suits the type of debt or debts that are held and the unique situation of the debtor.  Paying down debts and re-establishing good credit takes time and commitment in order to be effective.  For many people, a structured debt relief program is the best solution, while others prefer to take charge of their own debt recovery.






Structured debt relief programs

If a debtor would like to reduce the total amounts of all debts held and pay them off with one lump sum, then a debt settlement program may be the best choice.  In this program, a settlement company is hired to open a trust for the debtor and payments are made by the debtor into this account.  The settlement company’s debt arbitrators will negotiate a reduced total payment with the creditors when a sizable sum has accumulated in the account, usually after several months and then the agreed upon amount is paid to settle the debt.

People with multiple debts may want to consolidate debt into a single monthly payment, simultaneously lowering the interest on the debt itself.  A debt consolidation program accomplishes this by lowering the interest rate and waiving other fees and charges. A single payment is made each month to the consolidation company, who then disperse the money amongst the creditors.

Debt relief through debt management is a third option.  This route involves a certified credit counselor who works with the debtor to design a budget unique to the debtor’s needs and circumstance to effectively get out of debt.  They will also negotiate with the creditors to reduce the interest rate on any remaining balances, reducing the monthly payments.

Getting out of debt on your own

If a structured program for debt relief is not to taste, there are other steps that can be taken to get out of debt.  First prepare the emergency fund; $1000 cash is a good sum to have on hand in case of the unexpected.  Next, list all existing debts; have the debt with the smallest balance or payment first, then keep going up to the largest sum. Begin with the smallest balance or payment and pay down the debts one at a time, all the while maintaining the minimum payments on all other debts.  Starting with the smallest first allows the debtor to see the effects of repayment more quickly and begin removing negative marks from the credit report more immediately.

source: 20smoney.com