This agreement reduces by over 90% the debt service due to the Paris Club creditors during the Fund supported program under the Stand-By Arrangement. The representatives of the Creditor Countries agreed on a debt treatment to ensure long term debt sustainability. To this end, they recommended that their Governments deliver a treatment providing a rescheduling of the stock of debt over 20 years, including a 7-year grace period. Consideration is also being given to additional debt relief on a bilateral basis.
Specific provisions:
Possibility to conduct debt swaps
On a voluntary and bilateral basis, the Government of each Participating Creditor Country or its appropriate institutions may sell or exchange, in the framework of debt for nature, debt for aid, debt for equity swaps or other local currency debt swaps:
(i) all Official Development Assistance loans;
(ii) the amounts of outstanding credits, loans and consolidations, other than Official Development Assistance loans, up to 20% of the amounts of outstanding credits as of 30 April 2012 or up to an amount of 5 million SDR, whichever is higher.
Phases
First phase : From May 01, 2012 up to June 30, 2013, implemented at the signature of the agreement
Second phase : From July 01, 2013 up to June 30, 2014, implemented on October 08, 2013
Comparability of treatment provision:
In order to secure comparable treatment of its debt due to all its external public or private creditors, the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis commits to seek promptly from all its bilateral and commercial external creditors debt reorganisation arrangements on terms comparable to those set forth in the Agreed Minutes dated 24 May 2012, while trying to avoid discrimination among different categories of creditors. Consequently, the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis commits to accord all categories of creditors -and in particular creditor countries not participating in the Agreed Minutes dated 24 May 2012, and private creditors- a treatment not more favourable than that accorded to the Participating Creditor Countries.
For the purpose of the comparison between the arrangements concluded by the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis with its creditors not listed in these Agreed Minutes on the one hand, and with the Participating Creditor Countries on the other hand, all relevant elements shall be taken into account, including the real exposure of the creditors not listed in the Agreed Minutes dated 24 May 2012, the level of cash payments received by those creditors from the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis as compared to their share in Saint Kitts and Nevis' external debt, the nature and characteristics of all treatment applied, including debt buy backs, and all characteristics of the reorganized claims and in particular their repayment terms whatever forms they take and in general the financial relations between the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis and the creditors not listed in the Agreed Minutes dated 24 May 2012.
Cut-off date:
April 30, 2012
Organisation of the session:
The meeting was chaired by Ms. Delphine d'AMARZIT, Co-Chairperson of the Paris Club.
The head of the debtor country's delegation was Rt Hon. Denzil L. DOUGLAS, Primer Minister and Minister of Finance.
