6th Conference of the Paris Forum 2018

Paris Forum calls for improved debt transparency and sustainability

46 lending and borrowing countries, 9 international institutions, and representatives from civil society gathered on 21 June 2018 at the 6th Conference of the Paris Forum, of which the Chairman's Summary is now available.

Participants discussed how to prevent over-indebtedness of some developing countries, in a context of growing vulnerabilities due to the rise and changing composition of debt in these countries. All along the day, participants analyzed the underlying causes of these countries re-indebtedness to identify long-term operational solutions.

Recognizing the importance of financing needs to ensure a long-term development, participants exchanged their view on best lending and borrowing practices to provide for the financing of development without compromising debt sustainability of borrowing countries.

The shared responsibility of lenders and borrowers has been highlighted. "We, official lenders and borrowers, also private creditors: let us not forget that we share the same destiny. It is essential to find concrete mechanisms to ensure financing of development in a sustainable way”, stated Guillaume Chabert, Co-Chairman of the Paris Forum.

Debates touched on the implementation of existing initiatives in favour of sustainable financing, with specific focus on the G20 Operational Guidelines for Sustainable Financing and OECD Export Credits Recommendation on Sustainable Financing.

Participants also discussed in detail the best way to improve transparency on debt data. The need for capacity building to improve data collection and reporting, in many borrowing countries, but also in lending countries was underlined.

Finally, the conference was an opportunity to analyze particular schemes that could undermine the long-term debt sustainability of borrowing countries, including the issue of collateralized debt.

The 6^th annual conference of the Paris Forum gathered the Paris Club’s 22 permanent members, its ad hoc participant (China), G20 members (Argentina, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia), members of the European Union (Czech Republic, Poland), and other creditor and borrowing countries (Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea, Haiti, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Philippines, Senegal, and Vietnam). International institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Central Bank, the European Commission, the European Stability Mechanism, the OECD and the UNCTAD also participated in this Conference. Civil society also participated in the Conference, with the attendance of the press and of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as ONE, Erlassjahr (Jubilee Germany), Jubilee Debt Campaign UK, Eurodad, CCFD-Terre solidaire, Plateforme Dette et développement and CATM France (Comité pour l’abolition des dettes illégitimes).