Borrowers' Platform formed

Developing countries have launched a Borrowers’ Platform at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, creating a new forum for debtor governments to coordinate on debt. (unctad.org) The platform was launched on April 15 in Washington, D.C., during the April 13-18 spring meetings, with ministers of finance and central bank governors from eligible developing countries taking part and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, or UNCTAD, serving as secretariat. (worldbank.org) (unctad.org) UNCTAD said Egypt’s finance minister, Ahmed Kouchouk, and Pakistan’s finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, led the launch process, and a follow-up briefing on April 21 described Egypt as the interim chair. Representatives from 30 countries attended the April 15 launch, including two prime ministers and 16 ministers and central bank governors. (unctad.org 1) (unctad.org 2) The new body is meant to give borrowing countries a standing room of their own in debt talks, after years in which creditor groups had more established coordination channels. UNCTAD said the platform will focus on peer learning, technical support, debt transparency and stronger representation in global debt discussions. (unctad.org 1) (unctad.org 2) UNCTAD also drew a line around what the platform will not do. It said the forum is not a crisis-response mechanism, not a venue for collective debt-restructuring negotiations and not a collective bargaining body. (unctad.org) The timing reflects a harsher funding environment for poorer countries. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said official development assistance fell 23.1% in real terms in 2025 to $174.3 billion, the largest annual drop on record. (oecd.org) Debt pressures have also intensified. UNCTAD said developing countries’ external debt burden reached $11.7 trillion in 2024, and those countries spent almost 10% of government revenue on interest payments to foreign creditors that year. (unctad.org) UNCTAD said 54 countries, home to 3.4 billion people, now spend more on debt service than on health or education, while its March debt update said higher borrowing costs are absorbing a growing share of public revenue. That leaves less room for spending on schools, hospitals and infrastructure even before countries try to refinance maturing debt. (unctad.org 1) (unctad.org 2) The platform’s roots go back to the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in July 2025, when governments wrote the idea into the Sevilla Commitment. A working group formed during the October 2025 annual meetings, and member states now plan interim governance and a work program ahead of the next IMF-World Bank annual meetings in October 2026. (unctad.org) (unctad.org) For now, the practical test is whether debtor countries keep showing up between summit weeks. UNCTAD said members agreed on April 21 to expand participation and set a work program through the October 2026 annual meetings. (unctad.org)