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World’s poorest countries’ financing capabilities are under pressure from high interest rates:Low-income countries are facing their biggest foreign debts servicing bills in the last 25 years as a result of the global tightening cycle as central banks work to tamp down inflation, the Financial Times reports, citing a recent study by Debt Justice. The study found that a group of 91 of the world poorest countries owe repayments on foreign debt that will eat about 16% of government revenues in 2023, with that figure set to rise 1 percentage point in 2024, straining public spending on health and education.
Who’s struggling: This year, Sri Lanka’s repayments on foreign debt will wipe out 75% of government revenues, and Pakistan will pay 47% of its public revenues in debt service. Defaulted on their external debts, Zambia and Ghana also suffer from high domestic debt bills. These rising debt servicing costs are fueling the debate over debt forgiveness, as Debt Justice calls for "fast and comprehensive" relief on external debts, including changes to laws governing bond contracts to force private creditors to take part in debt cancellation.
Mineral extractions race in space is on: China will build a base on the moon in 2028 using lunar soil bricks, according to the South China Morning Post. China’s space ambitions will take place over three stages: The 2025 Chang’e missions will collect samples from a farther part of the moon, in 2026 Chang’e 7 will constitute a search for water-ice, before Chang’e 8 embarks on a journey to build a lunar base that will include an orbiter, rover, hopper, and lander, Bloomberg reports. The station will likely be powered by nuclear energy.
Proxy wars in the sky? Beyond humanity’s indomitable need to explore, trips to the moon have very tangible and lucrative benefits: Mineral resources on our planet’s satellite could cover our global energy demand for over two centuries — and it’s zero-waste free, Bloomberg says. Establishing a presence on the moon is important “for China’s strategic needs as a space power,” Huazhong University of Science and Technology’s Ding Lieyun was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post. But there is also tremendous political risk as other nations like the US also covet the invaluable resources estimated at hundreds of bns in greenback.
