DFI participated in a joint mission with the IMF to Cape Verde. The mission worked with the debt unit at the Ministry of Finance in order to finalize the Medium Term Debt Strategy (MTDS), which the Government wants to have ready by the fourth quarter of this year. The mission included presentations on how to finalize the different underlying assumption of the model and guidance on how to advance in the work.

At the request of the Ministry of Finance in Honduras, a joint CEMLA/DFI mission visited the capital as one of the final events of the HIPC CBP. The purpose of the mission was to train government officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank on financing issues which included: the LIC-DSF Methodology, new issues on resource mobilization strategy and sub-national debt management. The last day of the mission focused on capacity building issues.

DFI and GEG held a multi- stakeholder workshop for CSO, Trade Unions, Parliamentarians, Private Sector and Government Officials jointly with the AfDB in Johannesburg, South Africa on June 29 – July 1. The 52 participants from 28 countries evaluated the AfDB's policies and procedures and made practical suggestions and recommendations for improving AfDB performance. The discussions focused on overall strategy, accountability, governance, engagement with groups from different sectors and their specific issues. The project document is available here.

In the context of the BCEAO/BEAC/BCC Capacity Building Programme under the HIPC CBP, five institutional missions were held in Senegal (30 May – 3 June), in Togo (6-10 June), in Burkina Faso (13-17 June), in Central African Republic (27 July – 1 August) and in Comoros (15-19 August). These missions focus on helping countries to introduce debt management procedures manuals adapting international best practices to national needs. Two other similar missions will be held soon in Chad and Congo.

DFI is currently providing technical assistance in debt management to Guinea. A six-month expert attachment is focusing on building capacity and training in debt management mechanisms, on the design of debt management and monitoring tools, as well as providing advisory services to the Department for Debt and Aid Management.

A joint Development Finance International and World Bank mission visited Kabul to conduct a Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) during June. 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 between A and D. A draft report was prepared during the mission and is being peer reviewed.

DFI and the Global Economic Governance Programme (GEG) were represented at the 2011 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the African Development Bank Group in Lisbon, Portugal. In the context of the current panafrican, multi-stakeholder client evaluation of the AfDB, DFI and GEG conducted several face-to-face interviews with Finance Ministers and top policymakers as well as representatives of African organizations from the regional economic community. The conclusions of this ongoing independent evaluation will be presented to the Bank’s Board over the next few weeks.

DRI's HIPC CBP partners participated in the annual DMF stakeholders forum organised jointly by the World Bank and Seco in Bern. Key issues discussed included lessons from 20 years of debt relief and recent debt restructuring, prudent lending and sustainable borrowing, subnational debt, domestic debt market development, and future challenges in debt management. For more details and the presentations made see here.

DFI was contracted by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in order to train government officials in the latest LIC-DSF methodology. The training was organized by the Ministry of Finance and was opened to staff from various departments at the Ministry as well as the Central Bank. Training included lectures about the methodology and the DSF template. The last two days allowed for participants to practice with some country specific exercises.

This paper argues that the surge in capital flows to developing and transition countries is generating exchange rate appreciation and exposing them to greater instability: developed countries will not be able to sustain their low interest rate policies indefinitely, and rises in interest rates in the past (particularly in the US) have led to crises in developing countries.