The coronavirus pandemic may have driven as manyas 100 million people back into extreme poverty,World Bank President David Malpass warnedThursday.
世界银行行长戴维·马尔帕斯8月20日警告说，新冠疫情或令1亿人重新陷入极端贫困。
The Washington-based development lenderpreviously estimated that 60 million people wouldfall into extreme poverty due to COVID-19, but thenew estimate puts the deterioration at 70 to 100million, and he said "that number could go higher" ifthe pandemic worsens or drags on.
The situation makes it "imperative" that creditors reduce the amount of debt held by poorcountries at risk, going beyond the commitment to suspend debt payments, Malpass said inan interview with AFP.
Even so, more countries will be obliged to restructure their debt.
即便如此，更多的国家将不得不重组其债务。
"The debt vulnerabilities are high, and the imperative of getting light at the end of the tunnelso that new investors can come in is substantial," Malpass said.
马尔帕斯说：“债务脆弱性很高，必须让人们看到希望的曙光，以吸引新的投资者加入。”
Advanced economies in the Group of 20 already have committed to suspending debt paymentsfrom the poorest nations through the end of the year, and there is growing support forextending that moratorium into next year amid a pandemic that's killed nearly 800,000people and sickened more than 25 million worldwide.
But Malpass said that will not be enough, since the economic downturn means those countries,which already are struggling to provide a safety net for their citizens, will not be in a betterposition to deal with the payments.
The amount of debt reduction needed will depend on the situation in each country, he said,but the policy "makes a lot of sense."
马尔帕斯说，需要减少的债务量将基于每个经济体的不同情况，但这项政策“非常有意义”。
"So I think the awareness of this will be gradually, more and more apparent" especially "forthe countries with the highest vulnerability to the debt situation."
“因此，我认为人们会逐渐意识到这一点，这会越来越明显，尤其是那些最容易受到债务危机影响的国家。”
The World Bank has committed to deploying $160 billion in funding to 100 countries throughJune 2021 in an effort to address the immediate emergency, and about $21 billion had beenreleased through the end of June.
But even so, extreme poverty, defined as earning less than $1.90 a day, continues to rise.
但即便如此，极端贫困人口仍在增加。极端贫困的定义是每日收入低于1.9美元。
Malpass said the deterioration is due to a combination of the destruction of jobs during thepandemic as well as supply issues that make access to food more difficult.
马尔帕斯说，情况恶化是由于疫情期间就业岗位减少以及供应问题使人们更难获得食物。
"All of this contributes to pushing people back into extreme poverty the longer the economiccrisis persists."
“这一切将导致经济危机持续时间越长，就有越多的人重新陷入极端贫困。”
Newly-installed World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart has called the economic crisis a"pandemic depression," but Malpass was less concerned with terminology.
"We can start calling it a depression. Our focus is on how do we help countries be resilient inworking out on the other side."
他说：“我们可以开始称之为萧条。我们的重点在于在另一方面，如何帮助各国恢复发展。”
Having a clear view of the size of each country's debt and the collateral involved also are key tobeing able to help the debtor nations, Malpass said.
马尔帕斯说，清楚地了解每个国家的债务规模和涉及的担保品也是帮助债务国的关键。
Governments in advanced economies so far have been "generous" in their support ofdeveloping nations, even while they take on heavy spending programs in their own countries,Malpass said.
