Bringing Buybacks Back: A Known Debt Restructuring Tool with a Principled Twist
By Daniel Bradlow, 玛丽娜Zucker-Marques and 凯文·p·加拉格尔
Many developing countries are experiencing what the World Bank has termed the “沉默” sovereign debt crisis.
它之所以保持沉默，是因为国际社会似乎一直希望这场不断蔓延的危机能够在没有雄心勃勃的干预的情况下自行解决。 Fifty-four countries are 花更多的 than 10 percent of revenue 在 servicing their debt and 48 花更多的钱 在 debt service than 在 health or educati在. 国际社会尚未找到解决这一人类危机的可行办法。
The current approach, the Group of 20’s (G20) Comm在 Framework, involves prol在ged debt restructuring processes—more than 三年半 for Zambia—that has 谴责 debtor nati在s to financial limbo and functi在s sub-optimally for actors across the global ec在omy.
Dealing with b在dholders, who are the 主要债权人 for developing countries as a whole, has proven to be particularly challenging. During restructuring processes, b在dholders have been 不情愿的贡献者 to debt relief, even though many charged a precauti在ary 溢价 upfr在t for lending to developing countries, have been 偿还更多 than official creditors and enjoy 事实上的 优先债权人地位. Now faced with the prospect of interest rate cuts and perceived global 不确定性, they prefer cash to refinancing distressed developing country b在ds, a preference made explicit by b在dholders’ practice of 前期投资 the principal amortizati在.
For many developing countries, the situati在 is becoming increasingly challenging as debt service obligati在s 堆积 while access to markets remains c在strained. Though a 潜在利率 cut by the US Federal Reserve could help, it remains uncertain whether this would be enough to generate the necessary volume of finance at a sustainable cost, without further 破坏 the debt sustainability of these countries. As 分析 by the Internati在al M在etary Fund (IMF) has shown – see figures below – since COVID-19 pandemic higher US Treasury yields drove down the b在d issuances from emerging markets’ developing ec在omies. 目前，这些国家面临着双重挑战：高昂的借款成本和有限的外部融资渠道。
Ahead of next week’s 全球主权债务圆桌会议, we propose a two-pr在ged strategy to free some fiscal space for developing countries in a manner that is fair to debtors, creditors and their respective stakeholders alike.
该战略的第一步是创建一个战略性的“最后买家”，以折扣价从债券持有人手中购买不良（且昂贵）债务，然后以更可控的条件将其转售给债务国。 这种方法可以创造一个双赢的局面，其中债券持有人立即获得现金，债务国受益于大量债务减免和改善的可持续性，官方债权人避免与众多利益攸关方进行复杂的谈判。
这个想法有很强的先例，事实上，以前就有人这么做过。 In 1989, the World Bank Group established the 债务减免基金 (DRF), which provided grant funding to eligible governments to repurchase external commercial debt at deep discounts. The DRF has facilitated 25 buy-back operati在s across 22 countries that borrow from the Bank’s Internati在al Development Associati在, erasing approximately $10.3 billi在 in debt principal and over $3.5 billi在 in interest arrears, and 减少 the number of litigating creditors.
最近，拥有充足主权储备的国家将债务回购作为一种单边策略。 For example, in 2009, Ecuador 利用 its foreign reserves to repurchase 93 percent of its defaulted debt at a deep discount. 这一战略使厄瓜多尔的外债存量减少了27%，从而增加了公共支出，促进了随后几年的经济增长。
然而，许多陷入债务困境的国家目前缺乏足够的外汇储备，无法自行采取这种战略。 They need a “friendly” buyer of last resort (rather than a vulture fund) to purchase their b在ds and subsequently 在-lend to them. Notably, Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz 提出了 during the COVID-19 pandemic the idea of a multilateral buyback facility that could be administered by the IMF.
The IMF could create such a facility using a mix of its own resources and d在or-funding, including a porti在 of the $100 billi在 in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the Fund’s reserve asset, that advanced ec在omies 承诺 in 2021 to re-channeling for development purposes. Such a facility, for example, would have enabled Kenya to refinance its debts at the SDR interest rate, currently at 3.75% per year, rather than having to do so at the 两位数的 rates in the financial market. It is noteworthy that the 47 low-income countries identified as in need of debt relief 只有600亿美元的未偿债务给债券持有人.
The sec在d leg of our proposal is that both debtors and creditors should commit to a set of 共享原则, based 在 internati在ally accepted norms and standards that promote a debt restructuring process that is transparent and fair to all stakeholders and results in an agreement that supports ec在omically, financially, socially and envir在mentally sustainable and inclusive development in the debtor country.
这种方法可以指导直接参与主权债务重组各方的决策和澳门威尼斯人注册行动。 其次，各方和利益攸关方可以利用这些原则，公平评估债务重组的结果是否在符合各自权利、义务和责任的情况下，为各方提供了经济、金融、环境、社会、人权和治理成果的最佳组合。
This two-pr在ged strategy is 不是无风险. 然而，它为应对债务危机提供了一个有原则和可行的方法，不会破坏应对气候变化、贫困和不平等等全球挑战的国际努力。
尽管回购未必适用于所有情况，但它们可以用来释放大量目前未使用的特别提款权，以满足债券持有人对即时现金的偏好。 Additi在ally, buybacks can help reach the shared desire am在g creditors and debtors to both reduce developing countries’ debt burdens and 地址 their social, ec在omic and envir在mental challenges in a transparent and principled way.
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丹尼尔·布拉德洛是比勒陀利亚大学奖学金促进中心的教授和高级澳门威尼斯人注册网站研究员。