A mission visited Port-au-Prince as part of the Debt Management Enhancing Capacity Building programme in the Republic of Haiti. Administered by CEMLA and financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the mission's main objectives were to enhance capacity in debt sustainability and debt strategy and to update the public debt database in order to prepare the various debt data projections and macroeconomic projections required for the debt sustainability analysis and Medium Term Debt Strategy (MTDS). The training also aimed at providing the basic concepts and requirements underlying these two methodologies while the data will be used in forthcoming workshops that are organised under the programme.

A joint Development Finance International, UNCTAD and The World Bank mission visited Khartoum, Sudan to conduct a Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) during February. The mission met with officials from the various agencies responsible for debt management and reviewed the way the various functions are performed to see whether they are in line with international standards. As required by the methodology, each dimension of the indicators was scored and a draft report was prepared during the mission and is being peer reviewed.

A joint DFI-World Bank mission was held in Comoros in order to put together a reform plan of debt management. The mission met with national institutions to identify capacity building activities in debt management in terms of governance, debt strategy, and operational risks.  Training was also provided in interpreting DSA results, report drafting, treasury management and operational risks. The reform plan was submitted to the national authorities who agreed to its implementation.

At the request of the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, and financed by the Capacity-Building Trust Fund, a DRI mission visited Juba Jan 15th to the 28th, 2012. The purpose of the mission was to provide independent advice to Government to help conduct a Debt Sustainability Analysis, Implement a technical capacity training program on issues such as risk and cost indicators, DSA methodology, and new financing issues among others. The mission also developed a medium term capacity building program for debt management.

At the request of the national authorities, a mission from DRI travelled to Sudan in order to assist the Government in its preparations for the HIPC Initiative. The mission had three main objectives: 1) Provide practical training to Government officials on the various aspects of debt relief and Debt Relief Analysis. 2) Assist officials in preparing for a National DRA Workshop in March of 2012 and 3) Assist Government to finalise preparations of the proposal, budget and results matrix for the 3-year Debt Strategy and Analysis Capacity Building Programme. The mission was part of a program being financed by the Government of Switzerland to support debt management in Sudan.

DRI took part in a World Bank-led DeMPA mission in Bamako, Mali. Meeting with officials from the various agencies responsible for debt management, the mission focused on assessing Mali's debt management in keeping with DeMPA methodology. Preliminary results were presented to the authorities at the end of the mission.

Earlier this year DFI prepared a background study for WaterAid analysing central government allocations to the water, sanitation and hygiene sector (WASH). The final report, Off-track, off-target, which draws of the findings of the background studies of DFI and others is available here.

DFI spoke at the UNCTAD Debt Management Conference in Geneva on the links between debt management and public financial management, urging a reversal of the marginalisation of debt management in the absence of debt crisis, and a greater focus on funding decentralised regional and in-country capacity-building. For DFI's presentation click here. The conference also provided a forum for bilateral meetings with many of DFI's implementing partners and the countries we are assisting on debt management capacity-building. Overall, the conference focussed on debt restructuring and responsible borrowing/lending as well as debt management. Click here to see the programme and papers.

A group of charities is appealing to Jersey to close the loophole in UK law which is allowing New York based vulture fund FG Hemisphere to sue the Democratic Republic of Congo for $100 million. A media investigation has exposed the hedge fund’s alleged illegal acquisition of DRC’s debt, forcing the second poorest country in the world to pay millions of dollars in interest repayments and fees on the original debt. Read more on the campaign here.

A recent joint WB and IMF report on HIPC Initiative aims to accomplish three objectives: 1) provide an update on the status of implementation, impact, and costs of the HIPC Initiative and MDRI; 2) discontinuation of the status of implementation reports and 3) further ring-fencing of countries eligible for debt relief .