In light of the 2021 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund, this letter provides private sector views that build on our November 2020 letter to the G20.  

This Addendum references the recent extension of and modifications to the G20/Paris Club Debt Service Suspension Initiative through June 30, 2021, providing a similar extension of/modifications to the private sector Terms of Reference.

In the wake of the extension of the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), as well as recent thoughtful proposals for reforming the international sovereign debt architecture, the IIF offers these private sector perspectives that build on our September 22 letter to the G20.

We remain strongly supportive of the intent behind the DSSI. However, we also recognize that the underlying premise may have changed—the issues in some countries are no longer temporary liquidity problems, but rather more fundamental solvency concerns. This letter sets out three key points which we believe are crucial.

Following discussions during the Paris Forum/G20 event on July 8, we are pleased to provide the following progress update on private sector engagement with respect to the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). 

In response to the request for a waiver from private lenders stating that a request from sovereign borrowers for forbearance from official creditors would not constitute an event of default, we are very pleased to published this “G20 DSSI Template Waiver Letter Agreement.” 

Informed by our working group discussions, this letter is meant to frame the accompanying Terms of Reference for private sector consideration of borrower requests within the DSSI.

The Terms of Reference are a toolkit for DSSI-eligible sovereign borrowers that request forbearance from their private creditors. This new framework offers a flexible template for in-scope borrowers and their private creditors to advance conversations and enable voluntary debt service suspension, on terms in line with official bilateral creditors.