World Bank warns record debt levels could put developing countries in crisis

People in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, queue in front of a bakery. The country has one of the highest debt levels in the developing world. Photograph: Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images

Urgent action is needed to prevent record debt repayments by the world’s poorest countries developing into a full-blown crisis, the World Bank has warned.

The Washington-based multilateral body said the escalating cost of servicing past borrowing caused by rising interest rates was siphoning money away from spending on health, education and tackling the climate crisis.