World’s poorest countries buckle under huge debt

In 2024, these nations, known to rich world investors as “frontier markets”, will have to repay about US$200bil in bonds and other loans. — Bloomberg

NEW YORK: At Manhattan’s luxe Pierre hotel on a late September morning, Adebayo Olawale Edun, the finance minister of Nigeria, tried to soothe the jitters of Wall Street bankers.

Over croissants and orange juice, he pledged that his country would cut spending and collect more in taxes to make the crushing debt payments owed to foreign investors.