WASHINGTON, Oct 23 - A senior U.S. Treasury official on Monday said there were signs of"potential improvement" in sovereign debt restructuring cases and more vulnerable countries were expected to seek help, but further work was needed to accelerate the process.
"The critical test of any progress will be whether it is sustained when, as seems likely, more countries come forward requesting debt treatments," he said. The Group of 20 major economies set up the Common Framework for debt relief for low-income countries during the COVID pandemic, but only two cases - Chad and Zambia - have completed the process, with Ethiopia's request still in work.
Roundtable participants have discussed state-contingent debt instruments which helped advance Zambia's restructuring and Neiman said these can be helpful when creditors disagree on a borrower's future prospects, such as differences in the outlook for oil prices for an oil exporting debtor country.