00:00As the IMF prepares to release its flagship World Economic Outlook in Bangkok this Tuesday,
00:07the headline is stability, but behind the projections, a fierce standoff is brewing over Africa's debt burden,
00:14austerity, and the cost to ordinary citizens.
00:17The fund forecast, sub-Saharan African growth holding above 4%,
00:21yet that headline marks a deepening liquidity squeeze.
00:26Debt servicing now swallows between 30% and 50% of tax revenues in some African countries.
00:33Sovereign debt is so high, but capacity for economies to settle the sovereign debt is also not there,
00:39vis-a-vis a lot of social unrest, a lot of poor infrastructure.
00:43So maybe the debate is to say, is Africa going to get an opportunity for debt clearance, reprieve from the
00:52creditors?
00:53If that is going to happen, then Africa will have fiscal space to manage the issues that can allow them
00:59to have economic growth that is positive.
01:01The real battle here in Bangkok isn't over the IMF's economic projections.
01:05It's over the political cost of paying back foreign debts.
01:09Global lenders insist fiscal discipline is the only way to rebuild markets' credibility.
01:14But African ministers are warning that, without debt restructuring,
01:19taxing citizens simply to service foreign loans is pushing their countries toward an explosion.
01:24Afalake Oynloye, Africa News, Bangkok, Thailand.
