Eighth Special Report - Debt relief in low-income countries: Government response to the Committee’s Seventh Report of Session 2022-23

This is the government's response, published 8 June 2023.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government accepts some recommendations on debt relief, including those on transparency and engagement with China, rejects others such as legislation on private creditors, and describes itself as "committed to strengthening the international debt architecture".

• On emergency debt service suspension for Common Framework applicants (Recommendation 1), it accepts, and says it has supported the idea, but "it has not been possible to secure consensus on this in the G20".
• It rejects consulting on legislation to compel private creditor participation (Recommendation 5), saying it is "focussed on the approach set out above rather than on a legislative approach", which it says "would be complex and could have unintended consequences".
• It rejects encouraging board-level discussion of debt cancellation by international financial institutions (Recommendation 9), stating the UK position is that they "should not be providing debt cancellation".
• On transparency (Recommendation 10), it accepts, and is "content to become the first G20 member to publish its self-assessment" of adherence to the G20 sustainable financing guidelines.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error