22 USC 262p-17 – Support for international initiatives to provide debt restructuring or relief to developing countries with unsustainable levels of debt
(a) Debt relief
The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall—
(1) engage with international financial institutions, the G20, and official and commercial creditors to advance support for prompt and effective implementation and improvement of the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI (in this section referred to as the “Common Framework”), or any successor framework or similar coordinated international debt treatment process in which the United States participates through the establishment and publication of clear and accountable—
(A) debt treatment benchmarks designed to achieve debt sustainability for each participating debtor;
(B) standards for appropriate burden-sharing among all creditors with material claims on each participating debtor, without regard for their official, private, or hybrid status;
(C) robust debt disclosure by creditors, including the People’s Republic of China, and debtor countries, including inter-creditor data-sharing and, to the maximum extent practicable, public disclosure of material terms and conditions of claims on participating debtors;
(D) expansion of Common Framework country eligibility to lower middle-income countries who otherwise meet the existing criteria;
(E) improvements to the Common Framework process with the aim of ensuring access to debt relief in a timely manner for those countries eligible and who request treatment; and
(F) consistent enforcement and improvement of the policies of multilateral institutions relating to asset-based and revenue-based borrowing by participating debtors, and coordinated standards on restructuring collateralized debt;
(2) engage with international financial institutions and official and commercial creditors to advance support, as the Secretary finds appropriate, for debt restructuring or debt relief for each participating debtor, including, on a case-by-case basis, a debt standstill, if requested by the debtor country through the Common Framework process from the time of conclusion of a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund, and until the conclusion of a memorandum of understanding with its creditor committee pursuant to the Common Framework, or any successor framework or similar coordinated international debt treatment process in which the United States participates; and
(3) instruct the United States Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund and the United States Executive Director at the World Bank to use the voice and vote of the United States to advance the efforts described in paragraphs (1) and (2).
(b) Reporting requirement
Terms Used In 22 USC 262p-17
- international financial institutions: means the International Monetary Fund, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, African Development Bank, African Development Fund, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank 2 Bank for Economic Cooperation and Development in the Middle East and North Africa,,3 and Inter-American Investment Corporation. See 22 USC 262r
- State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
Not later than 120 days after December 23, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall submit to the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committees on Financial Services and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report that describes—
(1) any actions that have been taken, in coordination with international financial institutions, by official creditors, including the government of, and state-owned enterprises in, the People’s Republic of China, and relevant commercial creditor groups to advance debt restructuring or relief for countries with unsustainable debt that have sought restructuring or relief under the Common Framework, any successor framework or mechanism, or under any other coordinated international arrangement for sovereign debt restructuring in which the United States participates;
(2) any implementation challenges that hinder the ability of the Common Framework to provide timely debt restructuring for any country with unsustainable debt that seeks debt restructuring or debt payment relief, including any refusal of a creditor to participate in appropriate burden-sharing, including failure to share (or publish, as appropriate) all material information needed to assess debt sustainability; and
(3) recommendations on how to address any challenges identified in paragraph (2).