Debt Relief For Developing Nations Must Top Agenda Of Forthcoming Financing, Development Conference: Pakistan

Pakistan has underscored the need for the world community to agree on providing debt relief for developing countries at the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), as part of efforts to build a more just world

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Mar, 2025) Pakistan has underscored the need for the world community to agree on providing debt relief for developing countries at the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), as part of efforts to build a more just world.

"Developing countries are not only spending more on debt servicing than in service of their citizens, but they also face net resource outflows," Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told an Inter-sessional consultations of the Preparatory Committee for the Conference which will be held in Seville, Spain, from 30 June to 3 July 2025.

In this regard, he pointed out that developing countries paid $49 billion in 2022 -- more to their external creditors than they received in fresh disbursements.

The Conference is set to address new and emerging issues, and the urgent need to fully implement the anti-poverty Sustainable Development Goals, and support reform of the international financial architecture.

"The FFD4 conference must agree on immediate measures for collective debt relief for debt distressed countries as well as on long term systemic reforms to the debt architecture," Ambassador Asim said, noting that Pakistan's proposal for a multilateral sovereign debt restructuring mechanism partially reflected in the draft outcome document.

"We hope that the document can be more ambitious on the topic of debt relief, as the current text does not contain any commitment to provide debt relief," the Pakistani envoy stressed.

At a time when international development cooperation is facing unprecedented stress, he said, an ambitious and meaningful outcome at the conference would be an important positive signal of the determination to achieve the SDGS by 2030.

But, he said, there should be no backtracking from, or rewriting of, the previously agreed commitments and principles, including the Rio declaration principle of common but differentiated responsibilities; long-standing ODA (Official Development Assistance) commitments, and climate finance obligations undertaken under the Paris Agreement.

In conclusion, Ambassador Asim said, "We are happy to see our proposal for a multilateral sovereign debt restructuring mechanism partially reflected in the draft before us."

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