Stuttgart, May 27, (dpa/GNA) – In view of the extensive Chinese loans to poorer countries, especially in Africa, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned of a worldwide economic and financial crisis.
Germany is coordinating with Western creditor countries that are members of the so-called Paris Club, and is informing them about the granting of loans in order not to repeat previous mistakes.
“One of the very, very big ambitions we are pursuing is to include China as a country that is granting a lot of loans in a new way,” Scholz said on Friday at the German Catholic Conference in the south-western city of Stuttgart.
There is a “really serious danger that the next big debt crisis of the global South will stem from loans that China has granted worldwide and does not quite have an overview of itself, because there are so many players involved,” the Chancellor warned.
“That would then plunge both China and the global South into a major economic and financial crisis and in addition not leave the rest of the world untouched.” It was a serious priority to change this, Scholz said.
Among other things, the Chancellor mentioned the “Global Gateway” strategy as a European initiative. With it, the European Union wants to catch up and provide around €150 billion ($161 billion) for infrastructure projects in Africa.
GNA