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<p>The UK is strongly supportive of work to safeguard debt transparency and sustainability
in lower-income countries. The UK conducts regular assessments of macro-stability
in lower-income countries, informed particularly by the debt sustainability analyses
carried out by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In line with
the classification arrived at by the IMF and World Bank in 2019, the UK currently
assesses Zambia's debt to be on an unsustainable path. The Minister for Africa discussed
the issue of debt with the President of Zambia and the Minister of Finance during
his visit to Zambia on 8 and 9 October.</p><p>In April 2020, the G20 and Paris Club
of official creditors announced a historic joint Debt Service Suspension Initiative
(DSSI) for the least developed countries. The DSSI has supported 43 countries, including
Zambia, which have requested suspensions, freeing up a total of US$5 billion in fiscal
space to fund the countries' COVID-19 responses. Given the depth of liquidity needs
in these countries, the UK supports an extension of the DSSI into 2021.We expect further
debt relief to be required. This should be on a case-by-case basis in the context
of an IMF programme to ensure it is tailored to need, with equitable burden sharing
among all official and private creditors. To ensure this process is efficient and
effective, on 25 September the Chancellor met with his G7 counterparts to discuss
a future Common Framework for debt relief between the G20 and Paris Club, as well
as possible extension to the DSSI. A joint statement detailing this discussion is
available on the US Treasury website.</p><p> </p>
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