Increased lending by China to developing nations is increasingly in the spotlight amid concerns that growing debt burdens and onerous conditions could sow the seeds of a crisis. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank are calling for more transparency about loan amounts and terms, and cautioning governments against relying too much on debt. At the meetings of these global development lenders on Thursday, newly installed World Bank president David Malpass warned that "17 African countries are already at high risk of debt distress, and that number is just growing as the new contracts come in and aren't sufficiently transparent". IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the high debt levels and number of lenders, who did not all conform to international norms, also complicated any future efforts to restructure a country's debt. "Both the bank and the IMF are working together in order to bring about more transparency and be better able to identify debt out there, terms and conditio...
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