Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

The Graphic Truth: Emerging market external debt woes

The Graphic Truth: Emerging market external debt woes
Make us preferred on Google

The coronavirus pandemic is taking a huge economic toll on every country in the world, but emerging-market economies are being hit particularly hard. Many of these states were already mired in economic crisis before the coronavirus outbreak, but now they face the triple hit of lockdowns at home, collapsing foreign demand for their exports, and the evaporation of outside investment. Emerging economies currently owe more than $8.4 trillion in foreign debt, about 30% of the developing world's total GDP, and many countries are appealing to international creditors, including the World Bank and IMF, to delay or even cancel their debt payments while they focus on the pandemic. Here's a look at some of the most highly-indebted emerging-market economies.

More For You

Middle East elections and escalation, with Brett McGurk
As Israel and the US head toward elections, the Middle East faces the prospect of further escalation. The Iran war has no clear endpoint, Houthi attacks are threatening US partners, and governments across the region are questioning whom they can count on.On the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer speaks with Brett McGurk, former White House Middle [...]
What is the “AI race” anyway?
Talk of the “AI race” is everywhere these days. The competition to master this technology shapes everything from high-level tensions between the US and China to the local politics of where to build data centers. And the stakes are high. Whoever masters AI will “rule the world,” according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. US President Donald [...]
Oil hits six-month high
Will Fitzpatrick
Ongoing Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have raised concerns about further disruptions to global energy supplies, especially after Saudi state oil company Aramco ordered the evacuation of its headquarters on Thursday. And the situation could get worse: The US and Israel are reportedly discussing renewed new strikes on Iran after the US midterms in [...]
​Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro speaks during a presidential debate, ahead of the runoff presidential election, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 18, 2026.

Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro speaks during a presidential debate, ahead of the runoff presidential election, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 18, 2026.

REUTERS/Jean Carniel
Brazil finally decides: Lula or Bolsonaro?After a deeply polarizing campaign, Brazilian voters will finally go to the polls on Sunday to choose: left-wing incumbent Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, who has served three terms since 2002, or right-winger Flávio Bolsonaro, whose father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was jailed for plotting a coup. [...]