IMF [to 2 July 2016]
http://www.imf.org/external/news/default.aspx
[We generally limit coverage to regional and global level initiatives, recognizing that a number of country-level announcements are added each week]

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July 1, 2016
Paris Club 60th Anniversary—Keynote Address by Christine Lagarde Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
…From the IMF’s perspective, the Paris Club has played an invaluable role in resolving a number of difficult crises. However, with new emerging vulnerabilities, and structural shifts in the landscape of official finance, I see three major areas where it will be important for the Paris Club to continue to adapt. I believe it should (1) broaden its membership to include other major official creditors, (2) extend financing innovations in recent Paris Club agreements, and (3) address the issues raised by public holdings of sovereign bonds.

An indispensable partner in debt crises
As Finance Minister, I always saw the Club as an indispensable force for good in the international financial system. But the extent to which this was actually the case became even clearer when I assumed the role of Managing Director of the IMF.

As you know, the Fund’s principal responsibility is to maintain the stability of the international financial system. Healthy sovereign debtors are at the heart of this system. Thus, the Fund actively promotes prudent policies to ensure that its members maintain debt sustainability.

This said, circumstances can arise when sovereigns are unable to meet their full payment obligations. The Fund is often called upon to provide financial support in these situations, but because we can only lend when debt is sustainable, some form of debt restructuring is usually required. If and when official debt needs to be restructured in this context, the debtor needs to reach an agreement with each of its official creditors.

If there were no established forum for official creditor coordination, this process could be messy, protracted and costly for debtor, the creditors and the system. But thankfully, in the Paris Club, we have such a forum – one, that is established, that is reliably efficient and that has cultivated nimble practices over the years, such as the provision of “financing assurances” for debtors’ programs, that make it possible for the Fund to lend early in support of a member in need…