WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that she wants China to move more quickly to support specific debt restructuring for developing countries, especially for Zambia, while leaving broader restructuring questions to separate talks.
Yellen told an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington that China has held up restructurings because Beijing has demanded that the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other institutions also participate in reducing debts for distressed countries.
"China really needs to come to the table. China's lack of willingness to comprehensively participate and to move in a timely way has really been a roadblock," Yellen said.
She said she is encouraged through multiple conversations, including with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, in Zurich last month, that Beijing "understands the problem and may be willing to work to make faster progress".
But she said that some broader questions, such as whether international financial institutions participate in debt restructurings, are blocking progress on specific cases.
Yellen said in the case of Zambia, she would like to see more rapid progress from China on restructuring its debts "and discuss these broader issues separately".
One forum to discuss them will come later in February in Bengaluru, Yellen said, where G20 countries will convene a debt restructuring roundtable in which China's finance minister and central bank governor are expected to participate.