Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting that took place on April 15, 2020 and on November 13, 2020, the Chinese Government agreed to work with other G20 members to implement the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). Then, in 2020, China Development Bank and the Government of Myanmar signed a debt suspension agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the lender agreed to suspend principal and interest payments due between May 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 under 5 loan agreements. The total suspension amount was $45,848,274.90 (including $29,100,742.50 in principal payments and $16,747,532.40 in interest payments).
Staff comments
1. The debt suspension agreement with CDB is documented in the Government of Myanmar’s Annual Government Debt Reports, which can be accessed via https://treasury.gov.mm/mm/Annual%20Report/5?language=eng and https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4y62ftatlyf5ik/2020-2021%20Fiscal%20Year%2C%20Annual%20Government%20Debt%20Report.pdf?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/gw4ansfleditxkn/2019-2020%20Fiscal%20Year%2C%20Annual%20Government%20Debt%20Report.pdf?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/9jxog87dmzfsfgw/Government%20Debt%20Report%20for%20FY%2019-20%20V%20Final%20%2821-12-2021%29.pdf?dl=0. 2. The Government of Myanmar disclosed the 2020 total suspension amount (including rescheduled principal payments and rescheduled interest payments) to the World Bank through the Debtor Reporting System (DRS). See https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/shqo5w418nwvocuiibhn8/IDS-Principal-and-Interest-Amounts-Rescheduled-14-July-2024.xlsx?rlkey=6mka34nyg2qpwd7lvgfxz6x87&dl=0 3. It is unclear which five loans benefited from this debt rescheduling event, and there is no evidence that demonstrates a specific loan was excluded from the rescheduling. As a result, because there are nine CDB loan projects for Myanmar, AidData assumes all nine projects benefited from this treatment. This issue warrants more investigation.