External Debt Crisis and Development

A/RES/61/188No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 51cExternal debt crisis and development, published in 2007.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2004–2007

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, 2007.

2007A/62/151Recent developments in external debt report of the Secretary-General

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

What does this mandate say?

26 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;

Emphasizes the special importance of a timely, effective, comprehensive and durable solution to the debt problems of developing countries, since debt financing and relief can be an important source of capital for economic growth and development;

Also emphasizes that creditors and debtors must share responsibility for preventing unsustainable debt situations;

Reiterates that debt sustainability depends on a confluence of many factors at the international and national levels, emphasizes that country-specific circumstances and the impact of external shocks should be taken into account in debt sustainability analyses, 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, 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-dependent developing countries, and to continue to provide information on this issue using existing cooperation forums, including those involving Member States;

Underlines the fact that the long-term sustainability of debt depends, inter alia, on the economic growth, mobilization of domestic resources and export prospects of debtor countries and, hence, on the creation of an enabling international environment conducive to development, progress in following sound macroeconomic policies, transparent and effective regulatory frameworks and success in overcoming structural development problems;

Welcomes the introduction of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative,4 and calls for its full and timely implementation and the provision of additional resources to ensure that the financial capacity of the international financial institutions is not reduced;

Emphasizes in this regard that debt relief does not replace other sources of financing;

Urges donors to ensure that their commitments to the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative be additional to existing aid flows, and underlines that full compensation by donors on the basis of fair burden-sharing for the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative costs of relevant financial institutions is essential;

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 borrowing and lending and the need to help those countries to manage their borrowing and to avoid a build-up of unsustainable debt, including through the use of grants and concessional loans, underscores the importance of the joint Debt Sustainability Framework of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for low-income countries in helping to ensure that new borrowing in post-Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative countries does not undermine their long-term debt sustainability, looks forward to the review of the Framework, and encourages the application of the improved Framework in lending and borrowing decisions;

Welcomes and encourages the efforts of the heavily indebted poor countries, 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 creditors, both private and public, who are not yet fully participating in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative to substantially increase their participation in the delivery of debt relief, and invites the international financing institutions and the donor community to continue to provide adequate and sufficiently concessional financing;

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 the Millennium Development Goals, and in this regard urges countries to direct those resources freed through debt relief, in particular through debt cancellation and reduction, towards those objectives;

Calls for the consideration of additional measures and initiatives aimed at ensuring long-term debt sustainability through increased grant-based financing, cancellation of 100 per cent of the official multilateral and bilateral debt of heavily indebted poor countries and, where appropriate, and on a case-by-case basis, significant debt relief or restructuring for low- and middle-income developing countries with an unsustainable debt burden that are not part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, as well as the exploration of mechanisms to comprehensively address the debt problems of those countries;

Encourages the Paris Club, in dealing with the debt of low- and middle-income debtor countries that are not part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, to take into account their medium-term debt sustainability in addition to their financing gaps, and takes note with appreciation of the Evian approach of the Paris Club in providing terms of debt relief tailored to the specific needs of debtor countries while preserving debt cancellation for heavily indebted poor countries;

Stresses the need to significantly address debt problems of middle-income developing countries, and in this regard stresses the importance of the Evian approach of the Paris Club as a practical means to address this issue;

Invites creditors and debtors to continue to use, where appropriate and on a case-by-case basis, mechanisms such as debt swaps for alleviating the debt burden of low- and middle-income developing countries with an unsustainable debt burden that are not eligible for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, and takes note of the discussions and assessment by the Paris Club of the proposal for “Debt for Equity in Millennium Development Goal Projects”;

Stresses the need to continue to take effective measures, preferably within the existing frameworks, to address the debt problems of the least developed countries, including through cancellation of the multilateral and bilateral debt owed by least developed countries to creditors, both public and private;

Reiterates its invitation to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to keep the overall implications of the debt sustainability framework for low-income countries under review, calls for transparency in the computation of the country policy and institutional assessments, and takes note of the disclosure of the country performance ratings of the International Development Association that form part of the framework;

Notes that credit rating agencies play an important role in determining countries’ access to international capital markets and the cost of such borrowing, and, in this regard, calls upon the international financial and banking institutions to consider enhancing the transparency of risk rating mechanisms, and notes that sovereign risk assessments made by the private sector should maximize the use of strict, objective and transparent parameters, which can be facilitated by high-quality data and analysis;

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, and recognizes the need for countries to be able to invest, inter alia, in health and education while maintaining debt sustainability;

Welcomes the efforts of, and calls upon, 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;

Welcomes also the efforts of, and invites, creditors to provide flexibility to developing countries affected by natural disasters on a case-by-case basis so as to allow them to address their debt concerns;

Welcomes further the efforts of, and calls upon, the international community to support institutional capacity-building in developing countries 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 other relevant multilateral financial institutions and stakeholders, to continue cooperation in respect of capacity-building activities in developing countries in the area of debt management;

Calls upon all Member States and the United Nations system, and invites the Bretton Woods institutions and 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 related to the question of the external debt problems of developing countries;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-second 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 situation and debt-servicing problems of developing countries;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-second 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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