Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable agrees on improving info sharing

By Lalit K Jha

WASHINGTON,

AMID rising debt vulnerability being faced by low and middle-income countries, the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) has agreed on urgently improving information sharing, including on macroeconomic projections and sustainability assessments, at an early stage of the debt restructuring processes.

Co-chaired by the International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank Group President David Malpass and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the GSDR on Wednesday discussed debt sustainability, and debt restructuring challenges and ways to address them. As a priority for India’s G20 Presidency, she said there is a need to augment present global efforts, including those of the G20, to address growing debt distress across the globe. During the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting in February, the urgency to address debt vulnerabilities in low and middle-income countries including Sri Lanka was recognised.

Sitharaman stressed on debt transparency, information-sharing and clarity on the comparability of treatment, predictability and timeliness of the debt restructuring process, including those for steps involved in the process and ways to assess and enforce.

Discussions focused on the actions that can be taken now to accelerate debt restructuring processes and make them more efficient, including under the G20 Common Framework, according to a statement issued by the roundtable.

“We agreed on the importance to urgently improve information sharing including on macroeconomic projections and debt sustainability assessments at an early stage of the process. The IMF and World Bank will rapidly issue staff guidance on information sharing at each stage of the restructuring process,” it said. “The meeting discussed the role of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) in these processes through the provision of net positive flows of concessional finance. The International Development Association’s (IDA) provision of positive net flows and the ex-ante implicit debt relief through increased concessionality and grants to countries facing higher risks of debt distress was welcomed,” the statement said.