Multi-stakeholder Consultations on Financing for Development

Dialogues managed by FfDO

External debt of developing countries

Mandate

The General Assembly in its resolution 60/188 recognized the work of the Financing for Development (FfD) Office within its mandate to organize multi-stakeholder consultations, panel discussions and other activities and called on the FfD Office to continue its work in this area. This mandate was reiterated by ECOSOC in its resolution 2009/30 of 31 July 2009.

Objective

The FfD office is organizing multi-stakeholder consultations on external debt under its mandate to continue to foster mutual understanding among members of all relevant stakeholder groups (governments, international organizations, private sector and civil society) in identifying issues in external debt, both for middle-income and low-income countries that need policy action to make crisis prevention and management policies more effective and to ensure debt sustainability. The aim is to identify incremental steps in improving the functioning of the international financial system for debt that stakeholders can agree on and implement and to follow-up on the commitment to policy actions on debt in the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development (A/CONF.212/7) and the Outcome of the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development (A/RES/63/303).

Modalities

In order to have consensus on improvements in the present approaches to debt restructuring, it will be useful to identify what possible incremental steps for improvement would be. It is vital to get a buy-in from all stakeholders in the process. The plan is to listen to each of their concerns in separate meetings and then bring all stakeholders together in a final meeting to ensure wide ownership of the process. In view of the financial crisis, some of the issues which need consideration are the balance between new loans, breathing space and debt restructuring and debt for development as a tool of crisis prevention and management. Moreover, a review of debt sustainability frameworks which capture the new realities and ensure sustainable growth of developing countries in the medium- and long-term, has acquired a fresh urgency.

Outcome

The desired outcome is the identification of issues, which lead to the orderly working of the international financial architecture for debt and which emerge from the stakeholders themselves to ensure ownership and implementation. In addition, the ongoing financial and economic crisis exerts new pressures on developing countries and the objective of these consultations is to foster appreciation of the stakeholders of new realities in external debt and the attendant policy issues.

Institutions, civil society, and member countries wishing to collaborate in this effort and host meetings should write to Ms. Benu Schneider at schneiderb@un.org

Meetings

• Panel discussion on "Facilitating international adjustment through timely debt resolution" (Tokyo, 12 October 2012)
• Expert Group Meeting on "Sovereign Debt Restructuring" (London, 19 September 2012)
• Expert Group Meeting on "Sovereign Debt Restructuring" (New York, 18 May 2012)
• New Policy options for dealing with sovereign debt problems: discussion on recent initiatives (London, 8 September 2010)
  • Meeting announcement
  • Meeting report
• Consultation on Policy Options for dealing with the Impact of the Financial Crisis on the External Debt of Developing Countries (Geneva,13 November 2009)
  • Meeting announcement
  • Meeting report
• Emerging Market Debt: Is the System Working Well Enough? (New York, 22 June 2009)

  This meeting was organized in cooperation with Robert Gray, HSBC at the HSBC offices in London. Panelists included David Beers (Standards and Poors), Professor Marcus Miller, University of Warwick, Lee Buchheit (Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton), Benu Schneider (UN-FFDO) and Robert Gray (HSBC)

  • Meeting report
• Emerging Market Debt: Is the System Working Well Enough? (New York, 8 June 2009)

  This meeting was organized in cooperation with the Emerging Market Traders Association and held at their offices in New York.  Panelists included representatives from the following: Joyce Chang, (J.P. Morgan Chase), Lee Buchheit  (Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton) , Bruce Wolfson (The Rohatyn Group), Benu Schneider (UN-FFDO) and Elena Daly, an attorney in private practice.

  • Meeting report
  • List of participants
• Workshop II on "Debt, Finance and Emerging Issues in Financial Integration" (New York, 8-9 April 2008)
• Workshop on "Debt, finance and emerging issues in financial integration" (London, UK, 6-7 March 2007)