The implementation of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) for the poorest countries vulnerable to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is nearing completion, the Paris Club announced on Monday 31 August.
Of the 39 countries that have applied to benefit, 28 have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Paris Club creditors. Angola is the latest. It has been recognised as eligible under the SDI roadmap, also endorsed by the G20. The moratorium shall apply from 1 May until 31 December 2020.
The Paris Club is “on the verge of fully deferring debt service for all its creditors” and will continue to “contribute actively to the post-DSSI discussion and implementation”, according to Paris Club President Odile Renaud-Basso.
The other 27 countries are Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Grenada, Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Mauritania, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo and Zambia (see EUROPE 12508/31, 12503/20).
For Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe, Portugal, which is not a member of the Paris Club, signed the memoranda of understanding jointly with the Paris Club creditors.
For the 28 countries, the total amount of 2020 maturities, thus deferred, is approximately $1.8 billion to date. The total amount deferred, including the carry forward of pre-existing arrears from the implementation of the DSSI, is $2.1 billion.
The Paris Club creditors will examine a possible extension of the moratorium this autumn, taking into account a report by the World Bank and the IMF on the liquidity needs of eligible countries (see EUROPE 12532/16). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)