The announcement was made at the ongoing 2022 Spring
Meetings of the World Bank-IMF in Washington DC.
In November 2020, the G20 reached an agreement on a Common
Framework to deal with insolvency and liquidity problems in DSSI-eligible
countries, including Nigeria.
At a briefing attended by IMF Managing Director Kristalina
Georgieva, World Bank President David Malpass said the institutions would help
debtor nations achieve development and macro-economic stability.
These include strengthening institutions and the capacity
needed to improve debt transparency, developing mechanisms to resolve
private-sector debt overhangs, and delivering effective financial sector
supervision.
Others are improving access to long-term finance and
enabling financial deepening that reduces the cost of investment and allocates
risk.
“The ongoing war in Ukraine and weak economic outlook with
rising inflation and the likely tightening in financing conditions will make
the debt burden worse.
“Our goal is expeditious debt relief that would restore
these countries to debt sustainability”, Malpass noted.
Admitting that the execution of the G20 Common Framework has
been slow, the chief listed four priorities identified by the World Bank and
IMF teams.
They include quicker and more efficient processes through
time-bound steps in the implementation and the introduction of a debt service
standstill to address the liquidity needs of countries requesting treatment,
with no penalty interest.
Others are greater clarity on how official bilateral
creditors will enforce and evaluate the comparability of treatment; and
expansion of coordinated debt treatments to non-DSSI eligible countries with
debt vulnerabilities.
Malpass added that the priorities were tailored to current
circumstances, while also heeding the lessons of past debt crises and
restructurings.