Following the 2008 global financial crisis, the socialization of losses from private debts and the subsequent emergence of sovereign debt crises in developing and developed countries, UNCTAD decided to make a proposal to improve the coherence, fairness and efficiency of sovereign debt workouts.
For this purpose, it established an ad hoc Working Group on a Debt Workout Mechanism in 2013 composed of stakeholders and independent experts.
This roadmap contains six sections:
- A concise summary of the key problems of current practice (A)
- A set of five principles for sovereign debt workouts (B)
- Global reforms recommended for smoothing debt workouts (C)
- Steps to be taken by debtor states prior to debt workouts (D)
- Recommendations for a reformed debt workout process (E)
- Recommendations for courts deciding sovereign debt cases (F)
The Roadmap is accompanied by a Guide, which provides an in-depth explanation of the principles and recommendations contained in this Roadmap.
