WASHINGTON: Developing countries spent nearly half a trillion dollars to service their external public and publicly guaranteed debt in 2022, draining funds from critical health, education and climate needs, and putting the poorest countries at increasing risk of “tumbling into a debt crisis,” the World Bank said on Wednesday.
In its latest International Debt Report, the bank said the debt-service payments — including principal and interest — rose 5 percent to a record $443.5 billion from a year earlier amid the biggest surge in global interest rates in four decades. It said the payments could shoot 10 percent higher in 2023-2024.
The 75 poorest countries were hardest hit, said the report, now in its 50th year. Their external public debt service payments reached a record $88.9 billion in 2022 and would surge by 40 percent over the 2023-2024 period. Their interest payments alone had quadrupled since 2012 to $23.6 billion, it said.
“This is the decade of reckoning,” World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill told Reuters in an interview. “Record debt levels and high interest rates have set many countries on a path to crisis,” he said, warning that continued high interest rates would push more developing countries into debt distress.
Gill said he was paying close attention to Ethiopia’s discussions with bondholders after a breakdown in talks over how long to extend the maturity and spread out repayments of its single $1 billion international bond maturing in December 2024.
“Ethiopia is like a canary in the coal mine,” he said. “It’s the biggest country that would default. That’s an important one. It’s one of the five biggest economies in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Ethiopia is careening toward default after it said last week it could not pay a $33 million bond coupon due on Monday.
Gill told reporters that steep debt servicing costs, high debt burdens and slowing growth in many countries raised concerns about a new debt crisis and the risk of contagion, but said he does not view that risk as “imminent.”
He said the situation would remain difficult for developing countries, with past experience indicating that interest rates were unlikely to come down “anytime soon” especially since supply shocks could jack up inflation again quickly.
Gill called for “quick and coordinated action” by debtor countries, private and official creditors, and multilateral financial institutions to improve transparency, develop better debt sustainability tools, and speed up debt restructurings.
African countries faced “another lost decade,” Gill told Reuters, noting they had seen no per capita income growth since 2014 on average.
The report said one in every four developing countries was now priced out of international capital markets and there had been 18 sovereign debt defaults in 10 countries over the past three years, more than in the past two decades combined.
Debt service payments consumed an ever-larger share of export revenues, with some countries now “just one shock away from a debt crisis,” Gill wrote in the report, noting that about 60 percent of low-income countries are already in or at risk of debt distress.
Domestic debt levels were also high in countries like Argentina and Pakistan, increasing risks. Countries that deferred making principal and interest payments under the Group of 20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) adopted during the COVID pandemic also faced additional costs now that those payments were due, the bank said, although exact data won’t be reported until 2024.
The report noted private capital had largely withdrawn from developing countries, favoring higher interest rates in advanced economies. Private creditors received $185 million more in principal repayments than they disbursed in loans, the first time that was seen since 2015.
Overall, there was a net outflow of $127.1 billion from low- and middle-income countries to bondholders, compared to an average inflow of $202 billion from 2019-2021.
The World Bank and other multilateral creditors, helped fill the gap, providing a record $115 billion in new financing for developing countries in 2022, the report said.
Pakistan, other developing countries, spent record $443.5 bln to service public debts in 2022 — World Bank
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Pakistan, other developing countries, spent record $443.5 bln to service public debts in 2022 — World Bank
- Servicing external debts drains funds from critical health, education and climate needs, says World Bank report
- Continued high interest rates would push more developing countries into debt distress, says World Bank’s chief economist
German biathlete Dahlmeier dies after mountaineering accident
- Accident occurred around Monday afternoon at an altitude of 5,700 meters in Hushe Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan
- A recovery operation to ewaxuw Dahlmeier was launched but ultimately called off on the evening of July 29
PESHAWAR: German double Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier has died after a mountaineering accident in Pakistan, her management and local authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
The accident occurred around noon on Monday, at an altitude of approximately 5,700 meters at Laila Peak, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said on Tuesday.
Dahlmeier was climbing with her mountaineering partner when she was struck by a sudden rockfall in the Hushe Valley, part of the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. Poor weather conditions prevented a rescue helicopter from reaching the site.
Two teams of expert climbers from Germany and the United States deployed to search her confirmed that she had died, regional government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said.
“Laura Dahlmeier died on 28 July in a mountain accident on Laila Peak (6,069 meters) in Pakistan’s Karakoram range,” her management said in a statement.
“A recovery operation was launched but ultimately called off on the evening of 29 July.”
Her representatives added that Dahlmeier most likely died instantly, while her mountaineering partner was unharmed.
“It was Laura Dahlmeier’s express and written will that in a case like this, no one should risk their life to recover her,” they said.
“It was her wish to leave her body behind on the mountain in this case. This is also in line with the wishes of her relatives.”
Faraq said the regional authorities would respect any decision by her family.
The provincial government spokesperson also identified the climbing partner as Marina Eva Krauss.
Krauss successfully descended to base camp and is reported to be in good health, he added.
The 31-year-old Dahlmeier retired from biathlon in 2019, aged 25, a year after becoming the first female biathlete to achieve a sprint and pursuit double at the same Olympics.
OLYMPIC TRIBUTE
“Laura made history at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics as the first female biathlete to win sprint and pursuit gold at the same Games edition. She will be remembered forever,” the President of the International Olympic Committee Kirsty Coventry said.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation expressed deep sorrow at the news.
“She was more than an Olympic champion — she was someone with heart, attitude and vision,” it said in a statement on X.
Dahlmeier, who was born in the Bavarian ski town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, was also honored by the premier of her home state, Markus Soeder, who said “she was ambitious and successful, yet always remained humble and close to her homeland.”
The International Biathlon Union also expressed its condolences.
“Laura’s energy and passion for life touched so many around the world. Her legacy, both within biathlon and beyond, will never be forgotten and will continue to inspire countless athletes and adventurers for generations to come,” it said.
Divorced daughters entitled to father’s pension, rules Pakistan’s top court
- Supreme Court says daughters deserve pension irrespective of whether their divorce occurred before or after father’s demise
- Rights activists welcome the ruling, say will ensure women are not left destitute if widowed or divorced after father’s death
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top court on Wednesday ruled that divorced daughters are entitled to their father’s pension irrespective of whether their divorce occurred before or after his death, calling for a review of pension regulations that it said were built on patriarchal assumptions and negative stereotypes about women.
The 10-page verdict was authored by Justice Ayesha Malik, who upheld a Sindh High Court ruling in favor of a woman named Sorath Fatima, the daughter of a deceased employee of Sindh’s Road and Transport Department. After Fatima’s father passed away in 2002, her mother received his pension until she also died in 2012.
As an unmarried daughter, Fatima initially received the pension, which was ceased by the provincial government after she got married. However, following her divorce in August 2022, Fatima requested the resumption of the pension, which was rejected by the Sindh government. It issued a circular that stated that a daughter who got divorced after her father’s demise is not entitled to his pension. Fatima challenged the decision at the Larkana bench of the Sindh High Court, which ruled in her favor.
The Sindh government challenged the high court’s decision at the Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal and said that a divorced daughter’s right to pension is not dependent on the timing of her divorce.
“We find that the [Sindh government’s] circular, which imposes restrictions unsupported by the Act or the Rules, is void ab initio, unconstitutional, and of no legal effect,” the judgment read.
It added that the timing of the pensioner’s death cannot lawfully be used to extinguish a surviving daughter’s right to claim the pension.
“Accordingly, this civil petition, having no force, is dismissed and leave refused,” the verdict read.
The judgment said it is deeply concerning, in the context of family pension, that the admissibility of pension to a surviving daughter continues to depend entirely on her marital status.
The judgment added that this dependency model revealed that there was a systematic bias that treats a daughter as a dependent, with her financial dependency shifting from parent to spouse.
“This assumption not only perpetuates the stereotypical mindset about women being dependent members within the family structure but also fails to recognize women as individuals or autonomous individuals who may have the capacity to be financially independent,” the judgment read.
The verdict added that women have independent rights and are autonomous and should be entitled to family pension where financial needs are established.
The court said as a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Pakistan is required to abolish discriminatory laws and practices that impair women’s enjoyment of rights on an equal footing with men.
The Supreme Court noted that it was important to revisit the law surrounding pensions in Pakistan.
“The Rules should be reconsidered to remove marital status as a condition for entitlement,” it said. “What we require is a need-based and dignity-affirming framework,” the judgment added.
‘COMMENDABLE JUDGMENT’
Women’s rights activists welcomed the ruling as a progressive step toward dismantling patriarchal norms, saying it reinforces divorced women’s right to financial security and reflects a growing judicial sensitivity to gender equality.
“I appreciate the Supreme Court’s decision, as granting a divorced woman entitlement to her father’s pension can help her lead a dignified life and achieve financial stability,” Farzana Bari, a prominent rights activist and academic, told Arab News.
Another rights activist, Samar Minallah, said the ruling would make a significant difference in advancing the rights of women in Pakistan.
She added that the ruling reinforces the idea that a daughter remains an integral part of her family, similar to a son.
“The ruling recognizes the financial rights of women, ensuring they are not left destitute, once widowed or divorced after the father’s death,” Minallah noted.
Pakistan says India’s statement on alleged Kashmir attackers ‘replete with fabrications’
- Indian Home Minister Amit Shah this week said Delhi has killed three militants, allegedly Pakistanis, involved in Pahalgam attack
- Pakistan’s foreign office says Islamabad remains a responsible state committed to peace, regional stability via “meaningful dialogue”
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Wednesday rejected Indian Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement claiming New Delhi had killed all three militants involved in the Pahalgam attack, whom he said were allegedly Pakistani nationals, as ” replete with fabrications.”
Shah told parliamentarians during a debate on Tuesday that three militants involved in the April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam town had been killed in a joint operation by the military, paramilitary and police on the outskirts of Srinagar. Shah had also said that all three alleged attackers were Pakistani nationals.
Gunmen opened fire on tourists in Pahalgam on April 22, killing 26 in total. India blamed Islamabad for supporting the attack, which Pakistan denied. The attack started a four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in which over 70 people were killed on both sides of the border.
“The account given by the Indian Home Minister is replete with fabrications, leading to serious questions about its credibility,” the Pakistani foreign office said.
“Is it a mere coincidence that the alleged perpetrators of the Pahalgam Attack were killed at the start of the Lok Sabha debate?“
The foreign office said India did not avail Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer of a transparent inquiry into the Pahalgam attack, saying that it instead chose “the path of belligerence and aggression.”
The foreign office also rejected Delhi’s assertion that it had established a “new normal” in bilateral relations with Pakistan by carrying out strikes against alleged “terrorist” camps in the country in May.
“As we have already shown through our resolute actions in May 2025, we shall forcefully counter any future aggression,” the statement said.
“For us, the only ‘normal’ in bilateral relations is respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and adherence to the principles and purposes of the UN Charter.”
The foreign office concluded by saying that Pakistan remains a responsible state committed to peace and regional stability.
He said Islamabad wanted to pursue a “meaningful dialogue” for the resolution of all outstanding issues between the two nations, including that of the disputed Kashmir territory.
India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed neighbors, have gone to war thrice since 1947 after gaining independence from British colonial rule. Two out of these wars have been over the territory of Kashmir.
Both claim the territory in full but administer only parts of it. India accuses Pakistan of arming and funding Kashmir militants, which Islamabad denies and says New Delhi fuels militancy in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces.
Punjab, Beijing review protection of Chinese nationals in eastern Pakistan
- Chinese nationals have increasingly come under attack in Pakistan, mostly by separatist militants, in recent months
- Frustrated by the attacks, Beijing has been pushing Islamabad to bolster security for Chinese nationals
ISLAMABAD: Dr. Ahmad Javed Qazi, the home secretary of Pakistan’s Punjab, met Chinese Consul General Zhao Shiren on Wednesday to discuss security arrangements for Chinese nationals in the eastern province, the home department said in a statement.
The move follows Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s announcement last week to enhance security measures for Chinese nationals across Pakistan, aiming to boost bilateral engagement under the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Beijing has been frustrated by a string of attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan since last year. These attacks have mostly been carried out by separatist Baloch militant groups, who accuse Pakistan and China of depriving locals in Balochistan of a share in the province’s mineral resources. Beijing has invested in the province with a key port and has mining interests there as well. Both Islamabad and Pakistan deny the allegations.
“The meeting focused on the law and order situation in Punjab and the security arrangements for Chinese nationals,” the provincial home department said in a statement issued after the Shiren-Qazi meeting.
One of the attacks included a bombing at the Karachi airport last October that killed two Chinese engineers returning to work at a power plant. Beijing has called on Islamabad to bolster security for its nationals in Pakistan in recent months.
Qazi assured Shiren that ensuring the safety of Chinese tourists and officials working on CPEC projects was a top priority, the home department said.
“We are committed to the security and facilitation of all Chinese nationals residing in Punjab,” he added. “The capacity of the Special Protection Unit is being enhanced to further strengthen security for Chinese citizens.”
Pakistan announced forming the special police unit last year to protect foreigners, particularly Chinese nationals, living in the country amid increasing attacks on Chinese citizens.
Qazi highlighted that foolproof security arrangements were in place across all industrial zones across the province. He said the federal government’s guidelines regarding the movement of Chinese nationals should be followed strictly.
“Our offices are always open to Chinese citizens and government representatives,” Qazi said.
Beijing has been pressing Pakistan in recent months to allow Chinese security personnel to protect the thousands of its citizens working there amid frustration over the attacks.
Thousands of Chinese officials live and work in Pakistan, where Beijing has invested in the multi-billion-dollar CPEC project. The CPEC is a network of roads, railways, and energy projects designed to link China’s Xinjiang province with Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.
Pakistan warns of fresh monsoon spell from Aug. 5 as rain death toll surges to 288
- Met department warns of flash floods in Dir, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra, Azad Kashmir and Galliyat regions
- PMD warns river flows are likely to increase up to medium level due to upcoming monsoon rains in country
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Meteorological Department (PMD) warned on Wednesday that a fresh monsoon spell from August 5 onwards is likely to trigger heavy rains and flash floods in several parts of the country, as the death toll from rain-related incidents since June 26 surged to 288.
Torrential rains have continued to wreak havoc across Pakistan since late June, killing 288 people in total as per data shared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The rains have killed 136 children in total and injured 691 people.
The Met Department also warned of flash floods in the northern regions’ local streams. These areas include Dir, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Tank, Dera Ghazi Khan, Murree, Galliyat and Azad Kashmir.
“A fresh monsoon activity with isolated heavy falls is expected to start from Aug 5,” the PMD said in its daily weather report.
It warned that river flows are likely to increase up to the medium level under the influence of the upcoming monsoon spell.
Authorities in Punjab issued a flood alert on Wednesday, warning of rising water levels in the Chenab, Jhelum and Sutlej rivers, with possible urban flooding in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Lahore over the next 48 hours.
The provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) urged residents in low-lying or riverbank settlements to follow precautionary guidelines and cooperate with local officials during evacuations.
Pakistan, which ranks among the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, has witnessed increasingly erratic weather events in recent years.
In May, at least 32 people were killed in severe storms, while a third of the country was submerged by devastating floods in 2022 that killed more than 1,700 people, affected over 30 million and caused an estimated $35 billion in damages.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has repeatedly directed authorities to intensify rescue operations in flood-affected areas of the country.
