IMF expects ‘continued tangible progress’ from global sovereign debt roundtable

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said it expects the global sovereign debt roundtable to make “tangible” progress toward quicker debt restructurings for heavily indebted countries during a series of meetings in coming weeks.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack confirmed that technical talks would be held on Friday, with a workshop on comparability of treatment to be held on June 15, convened by India, current president of the Group of 20 major economies, France, which chairs the Paris Club of official creditors, the IMF, the International Institute of Finance, and possibly China.

That would be followed on June 30 by a meeting of deputies from roundtable participants, with the expectation that such meetings would become regular, taking place every couple of months, Kozack told a regular IMF briefing.

The next meeting of principals would take place at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Morocco in October, she said.

She cautioned that the roundtable’s work was focused on broader processes and procedures, not individual country cases.

“Therefore some of the discussions are highly technical. They may take time, but we do expect to see continued tangible progress to with the view of having a meaningful impact on accelerating the debt restructuring process,” she said.

The group includes representatives of the IMF, World Bank, G20 countries, including China – the world’s largest bilateral creditor – as well as debtor countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka, which have struggled with delays in securing debt treatment, and private sector creditors.

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