Roundtable 2: Debt and SDR-Channelling: where do we stand and how to go further?
1:30 – 2:30 PM CEST
Grand Auditorium, Palais Brongniart
Speakers:
- Mahamat Idriss DEBY ITNO, President, Chad (V20 member)
- Ranil WICKREMESINGHE, President, Sri Lanka (V20 member)
- Kaïs SAÏED , President, Tunisia (V20 member)
- Edouard NGIRENTE, Prime Minister, Rwanda (V20 member)
- Kristalina GEORGIEVA, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
- Akinwumi A. ADESINA, President, African Development Bank
Moderator: Ms. Nadia CALVIÑO Santamaría, Deputy Prime Minister, Spain
Context and main issues
Financing for development sits at the confluence of climate, environmental and debt issues. In this regard, multilateral efforts need to be intensified to ensure debt sustainability. For low-income and middle-income countries in default, or about to default, progress could be made to coordinate debt restructuring processes, including committing to maturities in within the Common Framework [for the treatment of debt]. It would also be useful to implement climate change resilience tools, including debt suspension clauses in the event of natural disasters.
In addition to debt restructuring, and in order to help countries deal with challenges such as development, climate and biodiversity, additional support in the form of concessional funds and loans from the IMF is necessary. To achieve mutual trust, it is essential to honor the commitments already made, in particular the global objective adopted by the G20 to direct 100 billion United States dollars (or equivalent contributions) from countries benefiting from a strong external position towards vulnerable countries. However, this will not be enough and should be complemented by efforts to remedy the lack of grants allocated to the strengthening of concessional financing from the IMF.
