The Banking Executive Magazine - April 2021

World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings 2021 pecially as new variants emerge. De- veloping countries need to strengthen their readiness for vacci- nation campaigns and develop coor- dinated strategies to reach vulnerable populations. We commend the wbg for supporting client countries’ pro- curement and deployment of vac- cines, and we encourage strong monitoring and accountability mech- anisms to ensure fair and efficient distribution. We welcome the wbg’s partnerships with who, covax, gavi, unicef, and others, including private manufacturers, to help ensure that developing countries have fast, trans- parent, affordable, and equitable ac- cess to vaccines. We welcome wbg’s ongoing revision of the eligibility cri- teria for vaccine procurement. We call on ifc to redouble its efforts to support manufacturing capacity for vaccines and pandemic related med- ical supplies in developing countries. The pandemic has triggered far- reaching consequences, and we must strengthen global preparedness for future pandemics, and at the same time make progress in building robust health systems with universal coverage. 4. As poorer countries face the crisis with increased resource constraints, limited fiscal space, and rising public debt levels, more of them, including small states, are vulnerable to finan- cial stress. The rapid initial response under the debt service suspension initiative (dssi) has provided much- needed liquidity for ida countries. We welcome the progress achieved by the dssi in facilitating higher pan- demic-related spending. All official bilateral creditors should implement this initiative fully and in a transpar- ent manner. In line with the g20 de- cision, we support a final extension of the dssi by 6 months through end december 2021, which is also agreed by the paris club. We reiterate our call on the private sector, when requested by eligible countries, to take part in the dssi on comparable terms. This final extension will allow beneficiary countries to mobilize more resources to face the chal- lenges of the crisis and, where appro- priate, to move to a more structural approach to address debt vulnerabil- ities including through an upper credit tranche quality imf-supported program. Within this context, we welcome the ongoing efforts to im- plement 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 also welcome 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/bank debt sustainability analysis and the participating official creditors’ collec- tive assessment. We ask the world bank and the imf to support the im- plementation of the common frame- work, in line with their respective mandates. We stress the importance for private creditors and other official bilateral creditors of providing debt treatments under the common frame- work on terms at least as favorable, in line with the comparability of treatment principle. We recall the forthcoming work of the multilateral development banks (mdbs), as stated in the common framework, in light of debt vulnerabilities. We look for- ward 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 also reiterate the im- portance of joint efforts by all actors, including private creditors, to con- tinue working towards enhancing debt transparency. Bank and imf sup- port remains critical to enhance debt management and transparency, strengthen countries’ domestic rev- enue mobilization and spending ef- ficacy, and combat illicit financial flows. Looking forward, we urge the bank and the imf to help countries design and implement policies to ad- dress the root causes of excessive and unsustainable debt. Many mid- dle-income countries also face se- vere debt distress, limiting their ability to respond to the pandemic. We ask the bank and the imf to iden- tify lessons learned and continue working closely with other organiza- tions and policymakers to address the debt challenges facing middle-in- come countries, on a case-by-case basis. We welcome the launch of a second voluntary self-assessment of the implementation of the g20 oper- ational guidelines for sustainable fi- nancing. We look forward to further updates on the implementation of the institute of international finance voluntary principles for debt trans- parency. the BANKING EXECUTIVE 34 ISSUE 148 APRIL 2021