Experts analyse Commonwealth’s debt management work

“Debt relief doesn’t just happen,” observed Kamalesh Sharma. “It takes time, there are pitfalls and the devil is in the detail.”

“The Commonwealth wasn’t just the organization which initiated the ‘big idea’ of bilateral and multilateral debt relief – it initiated a practical idea to make it happen, too” he added, referring to the Commonwealth Secretariat Debt Management and Recording System (CS-DRMS), a software package that enables countries to record and analyse their external and domestic debt flows.

“This is one of the jewels in the Commonwealth’s crown – a world leading and transforming product,” said Mr Sharma, who was speaking at a ‘Commonwealth Debt Management Forum’ which took place at Marlborough House, London, on 26 June 2008.

This Forum brought together representatives from Treasuries, Ministries of Finance and Central Banks from 44 countries, including five who are not members of the Commonwealth, namely Afghanistan, Benin, Guinea, Mali and Niger. They met to look at the Secretariat’s debt work, such as CS-DRMS, and how Commonwealth assistance in this area can improve.

More than 100 participants - mainly CS-DRMS users and leading debt management officers – heard from the Commonwealth Secretary-General about the importance of critically analysing the Secretariat’s debt management work during their discussions.

“Analysis becomes all the more important in the evolving global economic outlook with three global crises – food, fuel and finance – inflation up and global liquidity down, and pressure on interest rates.”

The two-day event enabled participants to share experiences from their respective countries. They also heard presentations from debt management experts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Inter–American Development Bank.

Francis Rowe, an Economist from Economic Policy and Debt Department at the World Bank spoke about the need for countries to develop a Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy, in order to assess the costs and risk associated with debts. Such a framework, he argued, would enhance the economic prospects of indebted developing countries and to increase their ability to attract foreign capital flows.

Udaibir Das, Division Chief, Sovereign asset and Liability Management Division, Monetary and capital Markets at the IMF, discussed the considerations in issuance of sovereign bonds, and spoke of the need for countries to ensure greater transparency and public disclosure of their dealings in order to attract investor confidence.

Click here to read Kamalesh Sharma's speech

Secretariat Links:

• Special Advisory Services Division