More than 40 low-income countries applied to the scheme but still ended up paying out $36.4bn.
Counting the Cost
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A weekly look at the world’s top business and economics stories. Watch Counting the Cost every Friday 2230GMT
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After ceding diplomatic and economic ground to Beijing, Washington hopes to win back its neighbours with new investment.
The Asian Development Bank and the UK’s Prudential are developing a $120bn plan to buy coal plants in Asia.
Once the sick man of Europe, Germany weathered the financial crisis and the Great Recession better than its neighbours.
More episodes
International Energy Agency calls on Moscow to send more gas to head off an energy crisis amid concerns of shortages.
President Xi Jinping launches sweeping socialist reforms to address inequality in the world’s second-biggest economy.
Representing 45% of the world’s population, some of these fast-growing countries have failed to live up to expectations.
China has built ports in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Can India counter Beijing’s economic diplomacy?
Moscow takes a lead in new technology that can evade conventional defences and fly at seven times the speed of sound.
Without cash deliveries and its impounded international reserves, banks could fold and civil servants could go unpaid.
Critics are concerned the fund could provide training and weapons to dictators, increasing human rights abuses.
IMF to distribute more than $200bn to help emerging and developing countries through the pandemic.
Colombo avoids a debt default, but it’s fast running out of money to pay for imports. Will the IMF provide a bailout?
Space tourism will be worth $8bn by 2030, but that’s a fraction of today’s $350bn space industry.