The Group of 20 countries representing the world's biggest economies has agreed to extend the suspension of debt payments by an additional six months to support the most vulnerable countries amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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The suspension of more than $US14 billion ($A20 billion) in debt payments had been due to expire at the end of the year.
Wednesday's decision gives developing countries until the end of June 2021 to focus spending on health and emergency stimulus programs rather than debt repayments.
The G20 announcement was made initially on Twitter during a meeting of the group's finance ministers and central bank governors and was later confirmed at a news conference.
The virtual discussions are being held at the start of this week's meetings of the 189-member International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are also being conducted virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"We still need to do more," Mohammed al-Jadaan, the finance minister for Saudi Arabia, this year's chair of the G20, said at a news conference after the meeting.
Transparency International, Amnesty International and a collective of groups called CIVICUS had written to the G20 finance ministers ahead of their meeting to warn that the world is facing a crisis unlike any in the last century and that debt suspension is only a first step.
Though the global economy has begun a gradual recovery with the reopening of businesses and borders, the recovery has been sharply uneven.
The groups said that many of the poorest countries are still spending more on debt payments than on life-saving public services.
They urged the G20 countries to cancel existing debt until at least through 2021.
Some countries, like Pakistan, have called for an outright cancellation of debt payments.
Australian Associated Press
