Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the level and sustainability of public and private debt in emerging African economies.

There has been a marked improvement in the debt position of many African countries over the last 15 years as a result of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), both of which were established following strong UK leadership. Many countries have borrowed prudently over recent years and do not raise concerns about debt sustainability. But some countries’ debt levels are rising at an unsustainable rate.

I welcome the recent change in the IMF’s debt limit policy to take account of all public external debt in its setting of debt limits for countries which are at risk of unsustainable debt. I also welcome the review of the way the IMF analyses debt sustainability for consideration by the IMF Board early next year. In addition to this, recent discussions at the Paris Forum, G20 and at the third Conference on Financing for Development (FFD) in Addis Ababa are important in recognising the vital role of both lenders and borrowers acting responsibly to promote debt sustainability.