WITH DEBTS looming and dollars scarce, Zambia has wrestled in recent months with a predicament. It knew that failing to pay bondholders would be damaging. But paying only them, having failed to pay others in full, could be worse. Other creditors would blow off my legs, the countrys finance minister said. So on November 13th Zambia became the sixth government to default on its bonds this yearafter Argentina, Belize, Ecuador, Lebanon and Suriname. Others may follow. Although financial markets have regained much of the composure they lost in March, many countries still have more debt than they can comfortably handle. Thirty-eight governments have a credit rating that denotes a material risk of default or worse, twice the number at the en…
Read the full article at: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/11/21/many-countries-need-debt-relief