Debt Relief for Resilience

The report highlights a debt crisis in low-income countries, noting that by 2025 African nations will spend USD 89 billion on debt servicing. It argues that current liquidity-focused relief is insufficient and introduces the Debt for Resilience (D4R) initiative to provide official debt reduction, prevent leakages to private creditors, and prioritize growth-focused policies over austerity to support climate resilience.

• African countries are projected to spend USD 89 billion on debt servicing by 2025, which displaces essential development spending.
• Over 50% of low-income countries are currently experiencing debt distress or are at high risk, with 35 low-income countries specifically identified as being in debt distress.
• The nature of sovereign debt has shifted since the mid-1990s; while most participating low-income countries in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative then owed less than 10% of external debt to private creditors, the current share is significantly larger. Non-guaranteed private debt is particularly problematic due to short maturities and high interest rates, causing balance of payment pressures.

APA

Wiedenbrüg,, Y. H. M. (2025). Debt Relief for Resilience. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/debt-relief-for-resilience

Chicago

Wiedenbrüg,, Yanne Horas,Fernando Morra,Anahí. Debt Relief for Resilience. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2025. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/debt-relief-for-resilience.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wiedenbrüg, |first1=Yanne Horas,Fernando Morra,Anahí |title=Debt Relief for Resilience |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=17 April 2025 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/debt-relief-for-resilience |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wiedenbrg2025debt, author = {Wiedenbrüg,, Yanne Horas,Fernando Morra,Anahí}, title = {{Debt Relief for Resilience}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2025}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/debt-relief-for-resilience}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }