The Paris Club’s western creditors, who are responsible for renegotiating the debts of countries that cannot meet them, want to commit to responding with their partners to a request from a state “within six months,” while some are already waiting have more than two years.
“The delays have been very long, there is certainly a need for technical work, but we cannot allow countries to wait more than two years before receiving debt treatment,” said the president of this club, Emmanuel Moulin, at the opening of the 10th… .annual Paris Forum on Wednesday Club, organized in the capital.
An informal group founded in 1956 and bringing together 22 countries including Germany, France and the United States, this club is responsible for finding solutions to the difficulties of debt repayment in fragile countries.
Other actors have muddled the composition of poor countries’ debt in recent years, chief among them China and private creditors, whom the club invited to Paris on Wednesday for discussions to take place throughout the day and must progress across several cases, including Zambia, Ghana and Ethiopia.
Zambia has defaulted since 2020 but has still not received debt treatment under the Paris Club, which has been extended to non-club countries like China and grouped under a “common framework” set following discussions at the G20.
“I believe that we are close to being able to offer Zambia the conditions of adequate treatment,” affirmed Emmanuel Moulin on Wednesday, on the eve of an international summit in Paris aimed at helping developing countries better deal with climate change .
Turning to Ghana, “our pledges of funding have made it possible to take an important first step in addressing the debt (…) but there are more steps ahead,” he added. For Ethiopia, “the committee is already formed and ready to move forward as quickly as possible with the support of the International Monetary Fund,” continued the club’s president, who is also director general of the French Treasury.
Emmanuel Moulin also called on Wednesday for the creation of a “handbook based on the experience of Chad and Zambia” to “better explain how this common framework works to potentially eligible countries” and “provide more clarity to debtor countries.” .