The Banking Executive Magazine - April 2021

World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings 2021 We recognize the critical role of quality infrastructure investments in the recovery phase. Promoting re- silient, sustainable and inclusive in- frastructure will be key to stimulating economic growth and development. We welcome the creation of the in- fratracker by the global infrastructure hub (gih), which can help to better inform our policy decisions and shape our stimulus packages. We will explore infrastructure potential in creating jobs for supporting a ro- bust and sustainable recovery. We take note of the imf note on environ- mentally sustainable investment for the recovery. In line with the g20 roadmap to infrastructure as an asset class and building on the g20/oecd report on the collaboration with in- stitutional investors and asset man- agers on infrastructure, we will continue, in a flexible manner, the dialogue between public and private investors to mobilize private capital. We will continue to explore innova- tive financial instruments to bridge the infrastructure financing gap. We agree to develop a g20 policy agenda on infrastructure resilience and maintenance. We will work to improve financing of digital infra- structure and extend coverage of un- derserved areas, including through fostering investments for high-quality broadband connectivity. We will en- courage knowledge sharing with the representatives from local authorities to facilitate enhanced coordination with national governments to achieve more inclusive societies. We welcome advancing the work related to the g20 principles for quality infra- structure investment (qii). In this re- gard, we welcome the gih qii survey report. We recall our previous agree- ment on exploring possible indica- tors on qii and look forward to the outcome of the infrastructure work- ing group work in this area. We reit- erate the need to better inform infrastructure investment decisions, including through the ongoing work of related initiatives by international organizations on access to data, such as the infrastructure data initiative. We will further step up our support to vulnerable countries as they ad- dress the challenges associated with the covid-19 pandemic. We call on the imf to make a comprehensive proposal for a new special drawing rights (sdr) general allocation of usd 650 billion to meet the long-term global need to supplement reserve assets. A new allocation would en- hance global liquidity and will help the global recovery, building on the last assessment made by the imf in 2016. We also invite the imf to pres- ent proposals to enhance trans- parency and accountability in the use of the sdrs while preserving the reserve asset characteristic of the sdrs. In parallel, we ask the imf to ex- plore options for members to chan- nel sdrs on a voluntary basis to the benefit of vulnerable countries, with- out delaying the process for a new al- location. We welcome the progress achieved by the debt service suspension initia- tive (dssi) in facilitating higher pan- demic-related spending. All official bilateral creditors should implement this initiative fully and in a transpar- ent manner. In light of the persistence of significant liquidity needs related to covid-19, we agreed to its final ex- tension by 6 months through end-de- cember 2021, which is also agreed by the paris club. We reiterate our call on the private sector, when re- quested by eligible countries, to take part in the dssi on comparable terms. This final extension will allow bene- ficiary countries to mobilize more re- sources to face the challenges of the crisis and, where appropriate, to move to a more structural approach to address debt vulnerabilities in- cluding through an upper credit tranche quality imf-supported pro- gram. Within this context, we wel- come the ongoing efforts to implement the common framework for debt treatments beyond the dssi to address debt vulnerabilities on a case-by-case basis and look forward to the coming first meeting of the first creditor committee. In each case, we are committed to implementing the common framework in a coordi- nated manner, including through sharing necessary information among participating official bilateral creditors. The joint creditors’ negoti- ation shall be held in an open and transparent manner and before final- ization of the key parameters, due consideration shall be given to the specific concerns, if any, of all par- ticipant creditors and the debtor country. In this regard, we note that the need for debt treatment, and the restructuring envelope that is re- quired, will be based on an imf/world bank group (wbg) debt sustainability analysis and the partic- ipating official creditors’ collective assessment. We ask the imf/world bank (wb) to support the implemen- tation of the common framework, in line with their respective mandates. We stress the importance for private creditors and other official bilateral creditors of providing debt treat- ments under the common framework on terms at least as favorable, in line with the comparability of treatment principle. We reiterate the impor- tance of joint efforts by all actors, in- cluding private creditors, to continue working towards enhancing debt transparency. We recall the forth- coming work of the multilateral de- velopment banks (mdbs), as stated in the common framework, in light of debt vulnerabilities. We look forward to progress by the imf and wbg on their proposal of a process to strengthen the quality and consis- tency of debt data and improve debt disclosure. We welcome the launch of a second voluntary self-assessment of the implementation of the g20 op- erational guidelines for sustainable financing. We look forward to further updates on the implementation of the institute of international finance voluntary principles for debt trans- parency. We welcome mdbs commitments of usd 75 billion to dssi-eligible coun- tries over the period between april 2020 – december 2020, as part of their usd 230 billion commitment to support emerging and low-income the BANKING EXECUTIVE 30 ISSUE 148 APRIL 2021