非洲国家的债务困境与主权重组减免机制

Abstract:African countries have witnessed rapid increase of sovereign debt risk in recent years. Although there is no immediate risk of an overall debt crisis，the debt sustainability of some African countries is under severe threat. The debt condition of African countries is going to further deterioration due to the outburst of COVID-19 pandemic. With the advances of the Belt and Road Initiative（BRI），Chinese lending to African countries largely expanded. However，for most countries facing high debt risk or debt distress，the ratio of debt to China in total external debt is not high. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic，the G20 has agreed to provide debt standstill support to African countries through the Debt Service Suspension Initiative（DSSI），which China has made great contribution to. The DSSI aims to mitigate the liquidity risk faced by poorest countries，but it cannot resolve insolvency problems. The remedy effect of timely and decisive sovereign debt restructuring and relief measures for heavily indebted countries to get out of debt distress has been well proven by the past experiences of many African countries. Traditional creditors including the IMF，the World Bank and the Paris Club have established comprehensive rules and mechanism of sovereign debt restructuring and relief. The design of these rules could shed important light on the establishment of the debt restructuring and relief institution of China for OBOR countries. In the post pandemic era，there are three key points in the governance of sovereign debt in African countries. The first is to avoid the deterioration of the current debt distress. The second is to enhance the institution of debt management from the perspectives of both creditors and debtors. The last is to establish a more inclusive International debt negotiation mechanism so as to accommodate the changes in the creditor structure of African countries.

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