Developing countries are banking on a stronger voice in debt negotiations following the launch on Wednesday, on the margins of the 2026 Spring Meetings, of a new country-led borrowing initiative.

The Borrower’s Platform fills a gap in the international financial architecture by providing a borrower-led space to share knowledge and amplify their collective voice.

The initiative is state-led, with the UN Trade and Development Agency serving as the secretariat.

On Wednesday, at an event in Washington DC to launch the group, UN secretary-general António Guterres, whose Expert Group on Debt proposed the idea for the Platform in 2025, described the initiative as a breakthrough.

Mr Guterres described the initiative as a “breakthrough in global financing” comparable to long-established groups for creditor countries, such as the Paris Club, the London Club and the Institute of International Finance.

The UN chief pointed out that borrowers have often been excluded from discussions about their own debt levels, finding themselves paying, on average, interest rates more than twice those faced by advanced economies.

This, he said, “leaves developing countries at a distinct disadvantage in accessing the financing they need, which is another clear example of the inequality lurking at the heart of the global financial architecture”.

The UN chief addressed the “intensifying pressures” caused by the war in the Middle East, which is leading to rising raw material costs, slower growth and strained supply chains, on top of higher fuel prices.

The platform, he said, will help the borrower countries to share specialist knowledge about debt restructuring; give them the tools to engage with their creditors on equal terms; send a clear market signal to creditors, potentially lowering borrowing costs, and put them at the centre of discussions going forward.

“Developing countries are rising economic actors,” argued Mr Guterres, “and global governance must adapt accordingly”.

According to UN analysis, the military escalation in the Middle East conflict could push more than 30 million people into poverty worldwide, undoing years of development work.

This makes the creation of the Borrowers’ Platform a member-state initiative supported by UNCTAD particularly timely.

The problem it’s designed to address has been years in the making, as the cost of repaying debts has soared for developing countries over the last decade.

Least developed countries pay nearly a quarter of their revenue to external creditors, and 54 countries, home to 3.4 billion people, now spend more on debt than on health or education. In 2024, the collective external debt burden of developing nations reached $11.7 trillion.

The platform, open to borrower nations of all sizes at different stages of development and indebtedness, will allow them to share knowledge and amplify their collective voice.

It will also strengthen their ability to respond to debt challenges.  

(NAN)