"This pandemic has laid bare a glaring and unjust double standard: The world's wealthiest countries play by one set of rules, and the world's poorest by another," said David McNair, executive director for global policy at ONE, an international aid group.
G-20 officials argued the relief being provided is helping 46 of the 73 countries eligible, and efforts are under way to expand the help.
Some critics have also complained that China objected to portions of the debt relief plans that have been advanced.
"It is unfortunate that the pressing need for broader debt relief for poor countries is being stymied by the apparent recalcitrance of China, which has become a major creditor," said Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell University and a former head of the IMF's China division.
"China has proven a reluctant participant in multilateral debt relief efforts, putting its narrow economic and geopolitical interests ahead of a collective approach to easing the burden on poor countries."
"We still need to do more," Mohammed al-Jadaan, the finance minister for Saudi Arabia, this year's chair of the G-20, acknowledged at a news conference after Wednesday's meeting.
"We must ensure these nations are fully supported in their efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic ... We have agreed to extend the debt service suspension initiative by six months."
Al-Jadaan said there would be further discussions at April's spring meetings to decide whether the suspension should be extended for an additional six months. He stressed that the pandemic had threatened the fiscal stability of many countries, particularly the poorest.
Al-Jadaan said another finance ministers' meeting would be held virtually next month, before the leaders' summit on November 21 and 22. He said the goal would be to agree on a framework that goes beyond even the current debt suspension initiative. He did not elaborate. The United States is represented at the G-20 finance meetings by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Transparency International, Amnesty International and a collective of groups called CIVICUS had written to the G-20 finance ministers before their meeting to warn that the world is facing a crisis unlike any in the last century and debt suspension is only a first step. Though the global economy has begun a gradual recovery with the reopening of businesses and borders, the recovery has been sharply uneven.
The groups said many of the poorest countries were still spending more on debt payments than on life-saving public services. They urged the G-20 nations to suspend debt payments at least through 2021. Some countries, like Pakistan, have called for an outright cancellation of debt payments.
Oxfam International said it believes the six-month extension was "the bare minimum the G-20 could do".
"The failure to cancel debt payments will only delay the tsunami of debt that will engulf many of the world's poorest countries, leaving them unable to afford the investment in healthcare and social safety nets so desperately needed," said Jaime Atienza, an Oxfam official who manages debt policy.
Oxfam and other groups are also calling for private lenders and investment funds to make similar concessions for the poorest countries by suspending their debt repayments.
The G-20, in a final communique, also urged private lenders to join its initiative for debt suspension.
"We are disappointed by the absence of progress of private creditors' participation" in the debt relief, "and strongly encourage them to participate on comparable terms when requested by eligible countries," it said.
