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<p>Under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, the G20 committed to suspend the
debt repayments of the world’s poorest 77 countries. The G20 focused on these countries
as they are particularly vulnerable to the economic pressures of the pandemic; and
because G20 creditors have a larger share of these countries’ outstanding debt, as
middle-income countries borrow much more from commercial markets. Given the more complex
composition of many middle-income countries’ debt, and their access to capital markets,
the G20 did not agree a blanket approach to respond to middle-income country debt
vulnerabilities would be appropriate.</p><p> </p><p>In 2019 the IMF assessed that
45% of the total outstanding stock of international sovereign bonds by nominal principal
amount are governed under English law.</p><p> </p><p>The G20 have called for private
creditor participation in the DSSI on a voluntary basis. It is important that developing
countries do not see their access to international capital markets become too costly
or restricted as mobilising private finance will be essential for crisis recovery
and long-term sustainable development. HM Government will continue to monitor implementation
of the DSSI by private lenders under this voluntary framework closely, as it is important
that all creditors work together to help enable countries especially vulnerable to
the pandemic to protect their citizens and economies.</p>
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