How to avoid a developing world debt crisis

Revelations this week that China is ramping up its bailout lending to poorer countries serve to highlight a potential debt crisis in the developing world. A new study shows China’s rescue lending surged to $104bn between 2019 and the end of 2021 to participants in its Belt and Road Initiative, the world’s largest-ever transnational infrastructure programme.

This figure, while striking, is minor compared to the overall debt levels in…