The IMF and World Bank are reviewing their Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries (LIC-DSF). The World Bank and IMF’s debt sustainability analyses (DSAs), produced according to this framework, bear enormous political significance. They affect the nature (loans vs. grants) and sometimes quantity of the funding that low-income countries get from the IMF, World Bank and some other aid agencies. They affect private creditors’ risk perception. They also determine whether the IMF requires a debt restructuring as a condition for a loan, and anchor negotiations about the amount of debt relief that borrowers get if they apply for it.

Several civil society organisations have put together a Joint Civil Society Policy Brief, with 36 recommendations for the IMF and World Bank to take into account in the LIC DSF review process.

The paper has been endorsed by ActionAid International, Center for Economic and Social Rights, Christian Aid, Debt Justice Norway, Debt Justice UK, Eurodad, Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), Oxfam International, Initiative for Climate Action and Development (ICAD Southern Africa) and World Economy, Ecology, & Development - WEED e.V.

This document represents a contribution by several debt justice organisations to the ongoing review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank’s Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries (LIC-DSF).