Debt Relief Reporting Template: Pilot phase Thor-Jürgen Greve Løberg MDB Meeting on Debt Issues Washington, DC - June 21 & 22, 2006

Presentation outline Revisit rationale, purpose and history Progress report on Pilot Phase Next steps

Rationale, purpose & history The HIPC Initiative creates need for mechanism to collect comprehensive info on provision of MDB debt relief Decision to develop this system was made in June 2003 Improved access to reliable MDB debt data Facilitates effective and transparent monitoring of debt relief delivery Captures the evolution of the debt situation in HIPCs Serves as foundation for the analysis of debt sustainability First version in 2004, updated in June 2005 and refined in November (‘trial run’) & December 2005 (for Pilot)

Basics of the debt reporting template Captures external debt and debt relief data for HIPCs that have reached DP Comprised of six worksheets: Loan Data Before HIPC After Original HIPC After Enhanced HIPC After Topping Up Repayment profiles

Pilot phase – Overview Decision to pilot taken in June 2005 meeting Launched in November 2005 Preceded by a ‘trial run’ to prepare the ground Covered 3 HIPCs (Ethiopia, Mali & Nicaragua0 Involved 14 MDBs Submission date December 22 Focus: ensuring that the template is as ‘user-friendly’ as possible & captures the full range of delivery modalities

Pilot phase – Status Given long record of interest, hopes were high …and the feedback from respondents has been positive …but the result, in terms of response rate, is not quite what one would have expected To date 9 of 14 MDBs have submitted (64%) Of 26 country templates, 13 have been received (50%) …despite numerous reminders/appeals and assurances of assistance

Pilot phase – Observations Some MDBs exemplified what is required in this exercise in terms of collaboration – in particular AfDB, IFAD, EIB and the IsDB – all of whom delivered at or very near the deadline and followed up closely with PRMED Although requiring large investment in time and effort, template itself has not been identified as a constraint Indications that some MDBs lack the capacity or expertise to complete the template – or is it a question of priorities?

Next steps? On basis of experience with pilot phase, any decision to ‘go live’ should consider Success requires genuine commitment by MDBs (resources) Not realistic to expect full participation at early stage Critical to ensure reporting by IDA, IMF, AfDB and IaDB, which account for ca. 85% of HIPC debt relief Aim for ‘critical mass’ – needs to be defined – and encourage gradual uptake of reporting mechanism over a set period >> identification of milestones Must determine how to deal with capacity issue If MDBs willing, ‘implementation plan’ could be prepared ‘go live’ with Sept/Oct. 2006 as submission deadline

End We welcome your guidance on the way forward… …over to you, Josselyne…