2021年发展中经济体债务透明度报告（英）-133页_5mb

Debt Transparency in Developing Economies Summary

Core Content

This report, Debt Transparency in Developing Economies, presents a comprehensive analysis of the current state of debt transparency in low-income developing countries (LIDCs). It highlights the challenges, risks, and opportunities for improving transparency in public debt management, with a focus on the implications for macroeconomic stability, sustainable development, and the prevention of debt crises.

Main Issues

• Lack of Transparency: Public debt data in LIDCs is often incomplete, inconsistent, or hidden, making it difficult to assess the true scale and risks of debt.
• Data Discrepancies: Debt statistics from different sources can differ by up to 30% of GDP due to varying definitions and standards.
• Hidden Liabilities: Many LIDCs have not published sovereign debt data for over two years, and there are significant gaps in the reporting of contingent liabilities and collateralized debt.
• Opacity in Domestic Debt Markets: Only 41% of LIDCs use market-based auctions as the main method for issuing domestic debt, and even those that do often fail to provide comprehensive and timely information to investors.
• Use of Non-Transparent Instruments: The use of resource-backed loans (RBLs), central bank repos, and foreign-currency swaps has increased, but these are not consistently captured in debt statistics, leading to "debt surprises."
• Non-Marketable Debt: LIDCs have a higher share of non-marketable debt, which is harder to track and report.
• Political and Institutional Weaknesses: Weak institutions and political instability contribute to the lack of transparency and the prevalence of opaque borrowing practices.

Key Findings

• 40% of LIDCs have not published any sovereign debt data for over two years.
• Over 15 LIDCs have outstanding collateralized debt but no collateral details are reported in official statistics.
• Resource-backed loans (RBLs) account for at least 8% of total new borrowing in Sub-Saharan Africa, and their existence is often omitted from debt statistics.
• Contingent liabilities such as guarantees and PPP-related obligations are underreported, with only 10% of LIDCs disclosing PPP-related contingent liabilities.
• Expenditure arrears are often converted into debt through securitization and account for an average of 3% of GDP in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an additional 2% increase due to the pandemic.
• Debt restructuring offers an opportunity to improve transparency, but it has been a missed opportunity so far.

Policy Recommendations

The report outlines a set of policy recommendations aimed at improving debt transparency, ranked by priority:

High Priority

• Limit and define confidentiality clauses, refraining from those that require secrecy.
• Ensure compliance with the Public Debt Management Legal Framework (PDMLF) and specify the consequences of non-compliance.

Medium Priority

• Publish core public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt statistics annually at the general government level, including details on individual debt instruments.
• Publish regular estimation of exposure to contingent liabilities (including those from PPPs) and domestic arrears in debt statistical reports and fiscal risk statements.
• Accelerate the transition to IPSAS as the standard accrual accounting framework for financial reporting.
• Fully disclose debt data reconciled in the context of debt restructuring.
• Expand the coverage and improve the timeliness of PPG debt reports in categories identified by the World Bank's reporting heatmap.

Low Priority

• Publish information on final bondholders by investor category based on data from local and international central security depositories (CSDs).

Role of Stakeholders

• Borrowing Countries: Must take primary responsibility for improving transparency by publishing accurate and comprehensive debt data and adhering to international standards.
• Creditors: Should promote transparency by providing detailed information about their lending portfolios and supporting the harmonization of debt reporting standards.
• International Financial Institutions (IFIs): Play a crucial role in fostering global cooperation, improving surveillance systems, and supporting the standardization of debt disclosure practices.
• Credit Rating Agencies: Can help reduce information asymmetry by providing accurate assessments of debt sustainability and risk.

Conclusion

Debt transparency is essential for managing public finances effectively and ensuring sustainable development. The report emphasizes that without greater transparency, low-income countries face increased risks of debt distress and crisis. It calls for urgent reforms, including the establishment of sound legal frameworks, the standardization of debt reporting, and the promotion of coordinated data collection and disclosure. International cooperation is vital to achieving these goals, as no single country can address the scale of the problem alone. The report concludes that the time to act is now to prevent further economic instability and ensure a green, resilient, and inclusive recovery.