External Debt Crisis and Development

A/RES/59/223No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 83cExternal debt crisis and development, published in 2005.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2004–2007

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/61/188

2007A/RES/61/188External debt crisis and developmentLatestCompare with previous version
2006A/RES/60/187External debt crisis and developmentCompare with previous version
2005A/RES/59/223External debt crisis and developmentCompare with previous version
2004A/RES/58/203External debt crisis and development

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2005.

2005A/60/139External debt crisis and development report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

20 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;

Emphasizes that creditors and debtors must share responsibility for preventing and resolving unsustainable debt situations in a timely and efficient manner, stresses the need to continue to bring them together in relevant international forums, and in this regard reiterates that the international financial system, along with enhanced official and private external financing and foreign direct investment, are key elements for a durable solution;

Stresses that debt relief can play a key role in liberating resources that should be directed towards activities consistent with poverty eradication, sustained economic growth and sustainable development and the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration,2 and in this regard urges countries to direct those resources freed through debt relief, in particular through debt cancellation and reduction, towards these objectives;

Also stresses that debt sustainability depends on a confluence of many factors at the international and national levels, underscores the fact that no single indicator should be used to make definitive judgements about debt sustainability, and in this regard, while acknowledging the need to use transparent and comparable indicators, emphasizes that country-specific circumstances and the impact of external shocks should be taken into account in debt sustainability analyses and invites the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, in their assessment of debt sustainability, to take into account fundamental changes caused by, inter alia, natural disasters, conflicts and changes in global growth prospects or in the terms of trade, especially for commodity-exporting developing countries;

Notes with concern that, in spite of the progress achieved, some countries that have reached the completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative have not been able to achieve lasting debt sustainability, stresses the importance of promoting responsible lending and borrowing and the need to help these countries manage their borrowings and avoid a build-up of unsustainable debt, including through the use of grants, and in this regard welcomes the ongoing work by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to develop a forward-looking debt sustainability framework for heavily indebted poor countries and low-income countries, as well as the current discussion on other initiatives aimed at ensuring long-term debt sustainability, including through debt reduction or cancellation, while stressing the need to maintain the financial integrity of the multilateral financial institutions;

Stresses the need for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to keep the overall implications of the framework for low-income countries under review, calls for transparency in the computation of the country policy and institutional assessments, and welcomes the intention to disclose the International Development Association country performance ratings that form part of the framework;

Reaffirms the need to pursue, where appropriate, debt relief measures vigorously and expeditiously, by all creditors, including within the Paris and London Clubs and other relevant forums, and welcomes other bilateral initiatives that have been undertaken to reduce outstanding indebtedness, so as to contribute to debt sustainability and facilitate sustainable development;

Reiterates the call upon developed countries, as expressed in the Millennium Declaration, to complete the enhanced programme of debt relief for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and to ensure that it is fully financed;

Recognizes and encourages the efforts of the heavily indebted poor countries, and calls upon them to continue to improve their domestic policies and economic management, inter alia, through poverty reduction strategies, and to create a domestic environment conducive to private sector development, economic growth and poverty reduction, including a stable macroeconomic framework, transparent and accountable systems of public finance, a sound business climate and a predictable investment climate, and in this regard invites all creditors, both private and public, to encourage those efforts, for example, through further participation in the delivery of debt relief in the framework of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and continued provision of adequate and sufficiently concessional financing by international financing institutions and the donor community;

Stresses the importance of continued flexibility with regard to the eligibility criteria for the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, in particular for countries in post-conflict situations, and the need to keep the computational procedures and assumptions underlying debt sustainability analysis under review;

Also stresses the need to find a solution for the debt problems of heavily indebted low- and middle-income developing countries that are not eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, and in this regard continues to encourage the exploration of mechanisms to comprehensively address the debt problems of those countries, which may include debt-for-sustainable-development swaps or multicreditor debt swap arrangements, as appropriate;

Takes note of the acceptance that the debt of some non-HIPC debtor countries is unsustainable and that prudent and appropriate steps are needed to deal with these problems, in this regard welcomes the Evian Approach of the Paris Club, and calls upon creditor countries to ensure that a more tailored response to debt restructuring is granted only in case of imminent default and is not considered by debtor countries as an alternative to more expensive sources of financing and that the debt of such countries is treated in a way that reflects their financial vulnerabilities and the objective of enhancing long-lasting debt sustainability;

Invites donor countries, taking into account country-specific debt sustainability analyses, to continue their efforts to increase bilateral grants to developing countries, which could contribute to debt sustainability in the medium to long term, recognizes the need for countries to be able to invest, inter alia, in health and education while maintaining debt sustainability, and in this regard stresses the need to take steps to ensure that resources provided for debt relief do not detract from official development assistance resources;

Welcomes the efforts of the international community to provide flexibility, and stresses the need to continue those efforts in helping post-conflict developing countries, especially those that are heavily indebted and poor, to achieve initial reconstruction for economic and social development;

Acknowledges the ongoing work towards a more comprehensive approach to sovereign debt restructuring, supports the increasing inclusion of collective action clauses in international bond issuing, and strongly encourages leading bond-issuing countries and the private sector to make substantial progress in the preparation of an effective code of conduct, bearing in mind the need not to preclude emergency financing in times of crisis, to promote fair burden-sharing and to minimize moral hazard, which will engage debtors and creditors to come together to restructure unsustainable debts in a timely and efficient manner;

Welcomes the efforts of, and further calls upon, the international community to support institutional capacity-building in developing countries and countries with economies in transition for the management of financial assets and liabilities and to enhance sustainable debt management as an integral part of national development strategies;

Invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, in cooperation with the regional commissions, development banks and funds and other multilateral institutions, to continue to study the possibility of creating a consultative group on external debt management aimed at developing best practices, promoting coherence and strengthening the institutional capacity of developing countries in debt management, taking into account work that has already been done;

Calls upon all Member States as well as the United Nations system, and invites the Bretton Woods institutions as well as the private sector to take appropriate measures and actions for the implementation of the commitments, ]agreements and decisions of the major United Nations conferences and summits, in particular those relating to the question of the external debt problem of developing countries;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution and to include in that report a comprehensive and substantive analysis of the external debt and debt-servicing problems of developing countries;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixtieth session, under the item entitled “Macroeconomic policy questions”, the sub-item entitled “External debt crisis and development”.

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External Debt Crisis and Development

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