YEMEN  Debt treatment -      October 7, 2020

Accorded treatment

- Agreement on the Debt service suspension Initiative (DSSI)

- Amendment under the extension of the DSSI signed on January 13, 2022

Categories of debt treated

1/ Treatment of arrears as of April 30, 2020 and maturities falling due from May 1, 2020 up to December 31, 2020

2/ Treatment of maturities from January 1, 2021 up to June 30, 2021

3/ Treatment of maturities from July 1, 2021 up to December 31, 2021

Repayment profile

Treatment under DSSI terms

Duration of the suspension of payment:

- from May 1, 2020 until end- 2020

- from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021

- from July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021

Perimeter of maturities and cut-off date

  • Suspension of principal repayments and interest payments
  • Cut-off date protecting new financing in case of possible future restructuring: March 24, 2020

Modalities for the debt service suspension

NPV-neutral for the suspension of payments

Repayment period:

- 3 years with a one-year grace period (4 years total)

- 5 years, with a one-year grace period (6 years total)

Treatment will be achieved either through rescheduling or refinancing

Specific provisions

The Government of the Republic of Yemen is required to commit:

  • to use the created fiscal space to increase social, health or economic spending in response to the crisis. A monitoring system is expected to be put in place by the IFIs;
  • to disclose all public sector financial commitments (debt) , respecting commercially sensitive information. Technical Assistance is expected to be provided by the IFIs as appropriate to achieve this;
  • to comply with the debt limits on contracting new non-concessional during the suspension period agreed under the IMF Debt Limit Policy (DLP) or WBG policy.

Good will clause under the Memorandum of Understanding dated October 7, 2020

If the Government of the Republic of Yemen has fulfilled all its commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding dated October 7, 2020, the Participating Creditor Countries declare their intention to envisage a possible extension during 2020 taking into account the report to be produced by the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund on the liquidity needs of the eligible countries.

Comparability of treatment provision

The Government of the Republic of Yemen commits to seek from all its other bilateral official creditors a debt service treatment that is in line with the agreed term sheet providing the key features of the time-bound suspension of debt service payments initiative set out in Annex I and commits not to accord any of these creditors a treatment more favourable.

Organisation of the session

The agreement was signed by Mr. Guillaume Chabert, Co-Chairman of the Paris Club. The head of the debtor country was Mr. Salem Bin Buraik, Minister of Economy and Finance.

The agreement under the extension was signed by Mr. William Roos, Co-Chairman of the Paris Club. The head of the debtor country was Mr. Salem Bin Break, Minister of Finance.

Participating creditors
  • BELGIUM
  • DENMARK
  • FRANCE
  • ITALY
  • JAPAN
  • NETHERLANDS
  • REPUBLIC OF KOREA
  • RUSSIAN FEDERATION
  • SPAIN
  • UNITED KINGDOM
  • UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Observers
  • AUSTRALIA
  • AUSTRI
  • BRAZIL
  • CANADA
  • FINLAND
  • IRELAND
  •  ISRAEL
  • NORWAY
  • SWEDEN
  • SWITZERLAND