A New Approach to Sovereign Debt Restructuring: An IMF Proposal

ECONOMIC FORUMS AND INTERNATIONAL SEMINARS

Wednesday, January 22, 2003, 5:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m.
IMF Auditorium (Enter via the IMF Center)
720 19th St. N.W., Washington, DC 

Transcript of this conference

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The question of how nations handle unsustainable sovereign debt has become a pressing issue for the international community. The Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM) is a proposal from the IMF designed to fill a gap in the global financial system for dealing with this problem. The mechanism would provide a framework for debtor nations and creditors to negotiate a debt restructuring in an orderly and timely fashion, so as to reduce uncertainty and economic dislocation.

How would an SDRM work, and who would decide whether a country's sovereign debt burden is unsustainable? Would all sovereign debt be covered? What would be the IMF's role? How might the SDRM affect private sector flows to emerging markets and borrowing costs? The following panel will address these and related questions:

Anne O. Krueger
First Deputy Managing Director
IMF

Jack Boorman (Moderator)
Special Advisor to the Managing Director
IMF

Stéphane Pallez
Vice Chairperson
Paris Club

Agustín Carstens
Deputy Minister of Finance and Public Credit
Mexico

Ann Pettifor
Programme Coordinator
Jubilee Research

Barry Herman
Chief, Finance & Development Branch
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations