Pakistan has expressed the hope that a new UN-backed mechanism offering debt-distressed countries a way to coordinate action and amplify their voice in the global financial system would lead to strengthening international cooperation in addressing debt challenges, particularly for developing countries.
“Today, more than 3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt servicing than on health or education,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told Borrowers Platform, which is aimed at dealing with global debt challenges by promoting debtor coordination.
The platform scheduled to be formally launched on 15 April on the margins of the upcoming IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington.
The Pakistani envoy said that the event will mark an important milestone in operationalizing the mandate agreed in Sevilla, a Spanish city where the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) was held in 2025 with the aim of overhauling global financial architecture to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“While the Platform will serve as a space for borrower countries, its broader value will benefit from the continued political support of the wider membership,” Ambassador Asim Ahmad said.
Highlighting the scale and severity of the debt pressures confronting developing countries, he said, “Many of our economies continue to grapple with rising debt servicing burdens, tightening financial conditions, and limited fiscal space to pursue sustainable development. ”
“For many developing countries, debt vulnerabilities are not merely the result of domestic circumstances; they are shaped by systemic shortcomings and structural imbalances in the international financial and debt architecture,” the Pakistani envoy added. “We hope that this will mark the beginning of a process that contributes meaningfully to strengthening international cooperation in addressing debt challenges; and advancing discussions on the broader international financial architecture.”