The coronavirus pandemic may have driven as manyas 100 million people back into extreme poverty,World Bank President David Malpass warnedThursday.
世界銀行行長戴維·馬爾帕斯8月20日警告說，新冠疫情或令1億人重新陷入極端貧困。
The Washington-based development lenderpreviously estimated that 60 million people wouldfall into extreme poverty due to COVID-19, but thenew estimate puts the deterioration at 70 to 100million, and he said "that number could go higher" ifthe pandemic worsens or drags on.
The situation makes it "imperative" that creditors reduce the amount of debt held by poorcountries at risk, going beyond the commitment to suspend debt payments, Malpass said inan interview with AFP.
Even so, more countries will be obliged to restructure their debt.
即便如此，更多的國家將不得不重組其債務。
"The debt vulnerabilities are high, and the imperative of getting light at the end of the tunnelso that new investors can come in is substantial," Malpass said.
馬爾帕斯說：“債務脆弱性很高，必須讓人們看到希望的曙光，以吸引新的投資者加入。”
Advanced economies in the Group of 20 already have committed to suspending debt paymentsfrom the poorest nations through the end of the year, and there is growing support forextending that moratorium into next year amid a pandemic that's killed nearly 800,000people and sickened more than 25 million worldwide.
But Malpass said that will not be enough, since the economic downturn means those countries,which already are struggling to provide a safety net for their citizens, will not be in a betterposition to deal with the payments.
The amount of debt reduction needed will depend on the situation in each country, he said,but the policy "makes a lot of sense."
馬爾帕斯說，需要減少的債務量將基于每個經濟體的不同情況，但這項政策“非常有意義”。
"So I think the awareness of this will be gradually, more and more apparent" especially "forthe countries with the highest vulnerability to the debt situation."
“因此，我認為人們會逐漸意識到這一點，這會越來越明顯，尤其是那些最容易受到債務危機影響的國家。”
The World Bank has committed to deploying $160 billion in funding to 100 countries throughJune 2021 in an effort to address the immediate emergency, and about $21 billion had beenreleased through the end of June.
But even so, extreme poverty, defined as earning less than $1.90 a day, continues to rise.
但即便如此，極端貧困人口仍在增加。極端貧困的定義是每日收入低于1.9美元。
Malpass said the deterioration is due to a combination of the destruction of jobs during thepandemic as well as supply issues that make access to food more difficult.
馬爾帕斯說，情況惡化是由于疫情期間就業崗位減少以及供應問題使人們更難獲得食物。
"All of this contributes to pushing people back into extreme poverty the longer the economiccrisis persists."
“這一切將導致經濟危機持續時間越長，就有越多的人重新陷入極端貧困。”
Newly-installed World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart has called the economic crisis a"pandemic depression," but Malpass was less concerned with terminology.
"We can start calling it a depression. Our focus is on how do we help countries be resilient inworking out on the other side."
他說：“我們可以開始稱之為蕭條。我們的重點在于在另一方面，如何幫助各國恢復發展。”
Having a clear view of the size of each country's debt and the collateral involved also are key tobeing able to help the debtor nations, Malpass said.
馬爾帕斯說，清楚地了解每個國家的債務規模和涉及的擔保品也是幫助債務國的關鍵。
Governments in advanced economies so far have been "generous" in their support ofdeveloping nations, even while they take on heavy spending programs in their own countries,Malpass said.
