The cascading crises of recent years – the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, a deepening climate crisis, a cost-of-living crisis and escalating geopolitical tensions and conflicts – along with the most aggressive monetary tightening in developed countries since the 1970s have intensified what was already an unsustainable position for many developing countries.

In 2015, the IMF estimated that 16 of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT)-eligible countries were in, or at high risk of, debt distress. By 2022 - following the COVID 19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine - it had risen to 37 countries and in 2024 35 countries were similarly classified.

The current debt challenges and consequent development crisis are deeply rooted in the inequities of the hierarchical international monetary and financial system (IMFS).

A fractured multilateral trade system with increasing asymmetries in trade benefits, speculative price movements and market instability in commodity markets1, as well as subordinated positions in global value chains contribute to the difficulties developing countries face in generating export earnings to service their external debt.

Different degrees of integration into the global financial system mean that the IMFS does not impact all developing countries uniformly.

Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development