Pedro Sánchez calls to unite efforts so that countries that need it have access to international financing

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

This high-level meeting seeks to address the imminent sovereign debt crisis and guarantee that the sustainability of long-term debt is the basis for a resilient future, framed within the initiative on "Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond", launched a year ago by Canada, Jamaica and the United Nations, which President of the Government Sánchez took part in at its two meetings in May and September 2020.

During his speech on Monday, the President of the Government called for a new and ambitious issue of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to be agreed on, in order to inject liquidity into the international system. Spain proposes to create a new IMF trust fund for just and sustainable development that particularly benefits those vulnerable countries suffering from acute poverty before the pandemic and where inequalities have increased during the pandemic.

Pedro Sánchez also declared that he positively views the extension of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) until the end of the year. 46 of the 73 eligible countries have already benefitted from it, postponing the payment of more than 5 billion dollars. However, more than 40% of the eligible countries are still over-indebted or at risk of becoming so.

The President of the Government thus pointed to the need to fully implement the G-20's Common Framework for Debt Treatments. "Coordination and inclusion will be the keys to its success", he claimed. "Private creditors must play a decisive role and we must seek greater cooperation from credit rating agencies". He also stated that the Common Framework must benefit not only the least developed countries but also vulnerable medium income economies, such as those in Latin America. Measures, stated the President of the Government, which must be accompanied by efforts by our partners to strengthen their administrative capacity and make their fiscal systems more effective and progressive.

Non official translation