Expert Roundtable on the challenge of creditor coordination in current sovereign debt restructurings and potential political approaches

Monday, 11 December 2023, 1 pm CET – 6 pm CET

Brot für die Welt, Caroline-Michaelis-Straße 1, Berlin and online

Following the Covid19 pandemic, first debt restructurings in countries of the Global South are either underway or have already been implemented. It is apparent that, despite the creation of new exchange formats and mechanisms, the complex coordination of creditors hinders a rapid and sustainable resolution of debt crises. The restructurings negotiated under the Common Framework for Zambia and Chad – as well as outside of it for Suriname or Sri Lanka – all follow the same pattern: In order to obtain the consent of all creditors, real debt relief is minimal. In consequence, the agreements fail to restore debt sustainability. While risks for creditors are hedged, downside risks for debtor countries are not addressed. Holdout creditors sue and threaten to undermine debt restructuring negotiations, a problem that exists for decades. Geopolitical tensions between China and the West threaten to further complicate negotiations. The resulting policy of the lowest common denominator comes at the detriment of the people in those critically indebted countries. It threatens the fundamental economic and social rights of the people, and by constraining the fiscal space of debtor countries the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the international climate targets.

Based on the proposal from erlassjahr.de, Brot für die Welt and Misereor: “Bringing all creditors onboard without settling for a minimum consensus” the following challenges shall be discussed with policy makers, researchers and civil society representatives: How can private sector involvement in deep debt restructurings be ensured? Does the preferred creditor status of multilateral creditor institutions need to be reconsidered? How can constructive cooperation with China succeed without settling for a minimum consensus?

Registration

Please register by 30th November 2023:
https://eveeno.com/BringingAllCreditorsOnboard

Last minute registration still possible.

Contact

Malina Stutz, erlassjahr.de (E-Mail)

Ute Straub, Brot für die Welt (E-Mail)

Klaus Schilder, Misereor (E-Mail)

Agenda

12:30 – 13:00             Arrival

13:00 – 13:10             Welcome remarks

13:10 – 13:40             Keynote: Problems arising from creditor coordination in current debt restructurings

• Penelope Hawkins (tbc.) (Director of the Debt branch, UNCTAD)

13:40 – 14:50            Panel discussion I: Ensuring private creditor participation in sufficiently deep debt restructurings!

• Daniel Reichert-Facilides (German lawyer)
• Guillaume Chabert (Deputy Director, SPR Department at the IMF)

• Ishac Diwan (Research Director of the Finance for Development Lab at the Paris School of Economics)
• Nona Tamale (tbc.) (Makerere University Kampala and Fellow with the African Sovereign Debt Justice Network)

14:50 – 15:20             Break

15:20 – 16:30             Panel discussion II: Comparable Treatment of multilateral creditors – what does that mean?

• Marina Zucker-Marques (Researcher at SOAS University of London)
• Matthew Martin (Director of Development Finance International)
• Axel van Trotsenburg (tbc.) (Managing Director of Operations, Worldbank)

16:30 – 16:40             Comfort Break

16:40 – 17:50             Panel discussion III: Keeping China at the table without settling for minimal consensus!

• Deborah Bräutigam (online) (Director of the China Africa Research Initiative and Professor of Political Economy Emerita at Johns Hopkins University)
• Nora Sausmikat (tbc.) (China Desk, Urgewald)
• Ahilan Kadirgamar (online) (University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka)
• Christoph Trebesch (tbc.) (Director for International Finance and Macroeconomics at Kiel Institute for the world economy)
• Robert Plachta (Head Division “Debt Restructuring and Paris Club” at the German finance ministry)

17:50 – 18:00             Closing remarks

Followed by an informal reception

Further information

Position paper: “Bringing all creditors on board! What the German government can do to ensure the participation of all creditors in comprehensive debt cancellation.” (2023), by erlassjahr.de, Brot für die Welt and Misereor