Conversion of Official Bilateral Debt: The Opportunities and the Issues
研究了官方债务转换的潜在收益与成本，包括改善投资环境、转移风险、为私有化和社会项目提供资金，以及通胀风险等，对债务国和债权国均有参考价值。
The level and structure of external debt limit the growth prospects of many severely indebted low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Because many of these countries owe a large proportion of their external debt to official creditors, mechanisms such as debt conversion can be useful in reducing their debt overhang; important efficiency gains can be achieved if the use of local currency linked to the debt reduction is productively channeled. This paper examines the lessons learned from swaps of commercial debt and evaluates the potential benefits and costs of swaps of official debt. For debtors, the potential benefits associated with a reduction of debt include an improved climate for domestic and foreign direct investnent, a transfer of risk to foreign investors, and access to a source of additional capital for privatization, as well as additional external funding for social programs. The problematic effects include the risk of inflation. For creditors, debt-for-equity and debt-for-development conversions are one way to help countries achieve long-term financial viability and at the same time prompt them to undertake socially desirable programs. The paper also addresses technical issues, such as transparency of operations, ownership of converted claims, and the need for financial intermediaries.