China announced that it will forgive interest on loans to 17 African nations and redirect $10 billion of its reserves at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the nations on this continent.

In statements quoted by the Bloomberg financial information agency, the Chinese foreign minister gave this assurance during the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, although he did not give details on which nations will see interest forgiven or the maturity of the loans included in this debt relief.

Since 2000, Beijing has announced multiple rounds of debt forgiveness, having canceled at least $3.4 billion in debt by 2019, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University of International Studies.

Rising inflation following Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, to raise interest rates, which increases the cost of sovereign debt payments.

Since developing countries have debt that is around $250 billion, about 251 billion euros, there is a risk of a cascade of financial defaults by countries that were already in trouble even before the covid-19 pandemic, writes Bloomberg.

China has been widely criticized by international partners for its lending practices to poorer nations, which accounts for nearly 40% of the bilateral and private debt that countries need to repay this year, according to World Bank data.

"What Africa wants is an atmosphere of friendly cooperation, not the zero-sum mentality of the Cold War," Wang wrote, according to the statement made available on China's Foreign Ministry website.

China received the equivalent of $38.2 billion from the IMF under the Special Drawing Rights issue, of which $10 billion (almost the same in euros) could be channeled into the two funds created by the IMF to help low- and middle-income countries. (Lusa)