Press Release No. 19/423

International Conference on "Sustainable Development, Sustainable Debt: Finding the Right Balance"

November 18, 2019

The Presidency of the Republic of Senegal and the International Monetary Fund, in partnership with the United Nations and with the support and participation of the Cercle des économistes, are convening an international conference on "Sustainable Development, Sustainable Debt: Finding the Right Balance", which will take place in Dakar, Senegal, on December 2, 2019.

The conference will be led by H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, and Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. The event will be attended by distinguished leaders, senior government officials, as well as high-level representatives of international organizations, the private sector, academia, and civil society.

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries made remarkable socio-economic progress in the last two decades, but development needs remain large. Meanwhile, the fiscal space needed to finance development is increasingly constrained as public debt rose rapidly between 2012 and 2016, albeit stabilizing in recent years.

The conference will discuss and explore economic policies that would allow SSA countries to meet their development needs without jeopardizing debt sustainability. To this end, conference participants will offer insights into the role of all stakeholders on the following issues:

• How can SSA authorities increase domestic revenue mobilization? How can the international community help SSA countries by ensuring an adequate international taxation system?

• How can SSA authorities improve expenditure efficiency? How should international partners share their experience in this area?

• How can SSA authorities boost debt management capacity and transparency to get the most value for money from borrowed resources?

• What are the prospects for development partners to honor their commitments to increase official development assistance? How should all development institutions improve their collaboration?

• How to attract more private investment in SSA countries? How to accelerate innovative financing initiatives?