Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Global Stage AI for Good Summit WATCH RECORDING
News

The Graphic Truth: Developing countries' deadly debt trap

The Graphic Truth: Developing countries' deadly debt trap
Make us preferred on Google

The head of the IMF has already warned that the state of the global economy is "worse than our already pessimistic projections." But while the pandemic is taking a huge economic toll on every country in the world, many emerging-market economies, which currently owe a collective $8.4 trillion in foreign debt, face a particularly grim tradeoff between paying their bondholders or funding their hospitals. Even before the coronavirus crisis, 64 countries spent more money annually servicing their external debt payments than they did on healthcare. Now, the global health emergency is taxing their underfunded healthcare systems, complicating attempts to contain the virus. Many countries have already pleaded for emergency debt relief. Here's a look at the countries that spend more on annual debt servicing than on healthcare.

More For You

Ebola death toll tops 600
Farida Dowidar
The Ebola outbreak reached a grim milestone on Thursday. Six hundred people have died in the Congo, according to the country’s health ministry. At the same time, healthcare workers at the center of the outbreak in the Ituri province are striking to protest delays in their wages and bonuses, risking further setbacks to efforts to contain the deadly [...]
US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO leaders summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026.​

US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alongside the NATO leaders summit at the Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Trump gives Ukraine another boostUS President Donald Trump said he would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot air-defense missiles during the NATO meeting in Turkey on Wednesday, fulfilling a longstanding request from Kyiv. These interceptors can protect Ukraine from Russia’s ballistic missiles – Kyiv is struggling to block such attacks. [...]
​Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte arrives before the start of her impeachment trial

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte arrives before the start of her impeachment trial hearing at the Senate of the Philippines in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines, July 7, 2026.

REUTERS/Noel Celis/Pool
Assassination plots. International arrest warrants. Political dynasties battling for power. What might sound like a storyline from a Netflix political drama has instead become reality in Philippine politics over the past two years. The spectacle reached a new stage this week with the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte getting [...]
The day after announcing her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election, Marine Le Pen visits La Fleche, in the Sarthe department, on July 8, 2026.​

The day after announcing her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election, Marine Le Pen (National Rally – RN), accompanied by Jordan Bardella, made her first campaign appearance during a visit to the market in La Fleche, in the Sarthe department, on July 8, 2026.

Frederic Petry / Hans Lucas
Yesterday, a French appeals court shortened a ban on far-right leader Marine Le Pen seeking public office, effectively allowing her to stand in the 2027 presidential election. Hours after the verdict was announced, Le Pen officially announced her fourth bid for the Elysée Palace, despite judges upholding her embezzlement conviction and sentencing [...]