UN: COVID plunged 77 million into poverty before Ukraine war

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. report says the pandemic plunged 77 million more people into extreme poverty last year and many developing countries can’t recover because of the crippling cost of debt repayments. And it says that was before the added impact of the war in Ukraine. The report released Tuesday says rich countries were able to support their recovery from pandemic slumps with record amounts borrowed at ultra-low interest rates. But the poorest countries spent billions of dollars servicing their debts and faced much higher borrowing costs. The report says this prevented the poorest nations from spending on improving education, health, and climate action.