World Bank says lending to China to drop
December 7, 2019
The World Bank said Saturday its loans to China have fallen and will continue to be reduced, amid criticism from US President Donald Trump over lending to the world's second-largest economy.
"World Bank lending to China has fallen sharply and will continue to reduce as part of our agreement with all our shareholders including the United States," it said in a statement.
"We eliminate lending as countries get richer," it added.
The World Bank on Thursday adopted a low-interest loan aid package to China of $1 billion to $1.5 billion (€900 million-1.36 billion) annually through June 2025. The plan calls for lending to "gradually decline" from the previous five-year average of $1.8 billion.
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The announcement prompted Trump on Friday to demand lending to China stop completely.
"Why is the World Bank loaning money to China? Can this be possible? China has plenty of money, and if they don't, they create it. STOP!" Trump wrote on Twitter Friday.
The Trump administration has argued China is too wealthy to receive World Bank loans, which are normally meant for poor countries.
It is a position shared by World Bank chief David Malpass when he was a US Treasury official.
The public rebuke of the World Bank comes as the United States and China are striving to strike a deal to end an 18-month trade war.
cw/aw (AFP, Reuters)