CAIRO, November 22. /TASS/. The Group of Twenty has extended Debt Service Suspension Initiative until June 2021, as follows from the Group of Twenty summit declaration released on Sunday.

"We are committed to implementing the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) including its extension through June 2021, allowing DSSI-eligible countries to suspend official bilateral debt service payments," the document says.

The move is necessary because many countries are unable to repay their debts amid the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis it has provoked. Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan told a news conference after the virtual summit that poor countries would be offered assistance in the short-term and medium-term perspective. The parameters of this assistance have been agreed, he said, adding that delays would tell adversely on all countries.

The Group of Twenty adopted the Debt Service Suspension Initiative in April. "As of 13 November 2020, 46 countries have requested to benefit from the DSSI, amounting to an estimated USD 5.7 billion of 2020 debt service deferral," the declaration says.