FM Sitharaman discusses debt restructuring with heads of World Bank, IMF

A debt roundtable on Saturday co-chaired by Union Finance Minister Sitharaman jointly with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank chief David Malpass, brought together key stakeholders to understand debt restructuring challenges and address debt vulnerabilities.

The debt roundtable was held on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting. During the session, the finance minister flagged the need to acknowledge today's diverse creditor landscape and build a common understanding of challenges and ways to address them.

Sitharaman called for the voices of the vulnerable and under-represented debtor countries to be heard through the G20.

IMF Managing Director Georgieva and World Bank chief Malpass called for faster debt restructuring processes and noted the debt forum was an opportunity to work together and help vulnerable countries.

Differences surfaced over the war in Ukraine and on resolving the debt burden of distressed developing nations, participants in the meeting said.

There was no consensus on how to describe the conflict in Ukraine, delegates said.

On the subject of debt restructuring, there are some disagreements over restructuring debt for distressed economies, the IMF chief said.

The managing director said, "On debt restructuring, while there are still some disagreements, we now have the global sovereign debt roundtable with consideration of all public and private creditors," IMF Managing Director Georgieva told reporters.