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Ministers of finance and central bank governors of developing countries will convene on the margins of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings to launch the Borrowers’ Platform to improve their debt management capacity.
The initiative is member state-led, with UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) serving as the secretariat.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres will attend the launch, which comes amid rising debt pressures across developing countries. Their external debt burden reached $11.7 trillion in 2024. A total of 54 countries, home to 4 billion people, now spend more on debt than on health or education.
Closed-door launch, followed by press conference
The launch event is by invitation only.
It will be followed by a press conference from 2–3 p.m. Journalists and media can register here for the press conference.
What’s the Borrowers’ Platform
A break from the past – bringing borrowers into the conversation
The platform addresses a gap in the international financial system, where developing countries remain underrepresented while creditor coordination has expanded.
Creditor-driven coordination and negotiation mechanisms have been insufficiently responsive to borrowers’ collective needs.
The platform will:
- Strengthen South–South cooperation and knowledge-sharing
- Provide technical and advisory support to borrowing countries
- Improve representation in global financial and debt discussions
- Enhance debt transparency and public debt management
- Support sustainable financing and development outcomes
- Send a positive market signal by strengthening debt-sustainability practices and improving data transparency.
Learn more about the platform here.
Event objectives
The launch event seeks to formally establish the Borrowers’ Platform.
The objectives are to:
- Officially open the interim period, during which member states will work to contribute to the framing of the platform
- Establish an interim leadership
- Adopt a work programme until October 2026