Definitions
This edition of Global Development Finance presents reported or estimated data
on the total external debt of all low- and middle-income countries.
Format
The Country Tables volume of Global Development Finance has been expanded
to include summary tables along with the standard country tables for the 138 individual
countries that report to the World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System (DRS). Summary
tables present selected debt and resource flow statistics for the individual reporting
countries and external debt data for regional and income groups. Regional and income group
totals in the summary tables include estimates for the twelve low- and middle-income
countries that do not report to the DRS. Because these estimates are not shown separately
in the tables, most group totals are larger than the sum of the DRS figures shown. The
format of the regional and income group tables draws on the individual country table
format and includes graphic presentations.
For the 138 individual countries that report to the World Bank’s DRS, tables are
presented in a four-page layout containing ten sections.
Section 1 summarizes the external debt of the country.
Total debt stocks (EDT) consist of public and publicly guaranteed long-term debt,
private nonguaranteed long-term debt (whether reported or estimated by the staff of the
World Bank), the use of IMF credit, and estimated short-term debt. Interest in arrears on
long-term debt and the use of IMF credit are added to the short-term debt estimates and
shown as separate lines. Arrears of principal and of interest have been disaggregated to
show the arrears owed to official creditors and those owed to private creditors. Export
credits and principal in arrears on long-term debt are shown as memorandum items.
Total debt flows are consolidated data on disbursements, principal repayments, and
interest payments for total long-term debt and transactions with the IMF.
Net flows on debt are disbursements on long-term debt and IMF purchases minus principal
repayments on long-term debt and IMF repurchases up to 1984. Beginning in 1985 this line
includes the change in stock of short-term debt (including interest arrears for long-term
debt). Thus if the change in stock is positive, a disbursement is assumed to have taken
place; if negative, a repayment is assumed to have taken place.
Total debt service (TDS) shows the debt service payments on total long-term debt
(public and publicly guaranteed and private nonguaranteed), use of IMF credit, and
interest on short-term debt.
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Section 2 provides data series for aggregate net resource flows and net
transfers (long term).
Net resource flows (long term) are the sum of net resource flows on long-term debt
(excluding IMF) plus net foreign direct investment, portfolio equity flows, and official
grants (excluding technical cooperation). Grants for technical cooperation are shown as a
memorandum item.
Net transfers (long term) are equal to net long-term resource flows minus interest
payments on long-term loans and foreign direct investment profits.
Section 3 provides data series for major economic aggregates. The gross national
product (GNP) series uses yearly average exchange rates in converting GNP from local
currency into U.S. dollars. The economic aggregates are prepared for the convenience of
users; the usual caution should be exercised in using them for economic analysis.
Section 4 provides debt indicators: ratios of debt and debt service to some of
the economic aggregates.
Section 5 provides detailed information on stocks and flows of long-term debt
and its various components. Data on bonds issued by private entities without public
guarantee, compiled for major borrowers, are included in private nonguaranteed debt. IBRD
loans and IDA credits are shown as memorandum items.
Section 6 provides information on the currency composition of long-term debt.
The six major currencies in which the external debt of low- and middle-income countries is
contracted are separately identified, as is debt denominated in special drawing rights and
debt repayable in multiple currencies.
Section 7 provides information on restructurings of long-term debt starting in
1985. It shows both the stock and flows rescheduled each year. In addition, the amount of
debt forgiven (interest forgiven is shown as a memorandum item) and the amount of debt
stock reduction (including debt buyback) are also shown separately. (See the Methodology
section for a detailed explanation of restructuring data.)
Section 8 reconciles the stock and flow data on total external debt for each
year, beginning with 1989. This section is designed to illustrate the changes in stock
that have taken place due to five factors: the net flow on debt, the net change in
interest arrears, the capitalization of interest, the reduction in debt resulting from
debt forgiveness or other debt reduction mechanisms, and the cross-currency valuation
effects. The residual difference—the change in stock not explained by any of the
factors identified above—is also presented. The residual is calculated as the sum of
identified accounts minus the change in stock. Where the residual is large it can, in some
cases, serve as an illustration of the inconsistencies in the reported data. More often,
however, it can be explained by specific borrowing phenomena in individual countries.
These are explained in the Country Notes section.
Section 9 provides information on the average terms of new commitments on public
and publicly guaranteed debt and information on the level of commitments from official and
private sources.
Section 10 provides anticipated disbursements and contractual obligations on
long-term debt contracted up to December 1996.
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Sources
The principal sources of information for the tables in these two volumes are reports to
the World Bank through the DRS from member countries that have received either IBRD loans
or IDA credits. Additional information has been drawn from the files of the World Bank and
the IMF.
Reporting countries submit detailed (loan-by-loan) reports through the DRS on the
annual status, transactions, and terms of the long-term external debt of public agencies
and that of private ones guaranteed by a public agency in the debtor country. This
information forms the basis for the tables in these volumes.
Aggregate data on private debt without public guarantee are compiled and published as
reliable reported and estimated information becomes available. This edition includes data
on private nonguaranteed debt reported by thirty-four developing countries and complete or
partial estimates for an additional twenty-eight countries.
The short-term debt data are as reported by the debtor countries or are estimates
derived from creditor sources. The principal creditor sources are the semiannual series of
commercial banks’ claims on developing countries, published by the Bank for
International Settlements (BIS), and data on officially guaranteed suppliers’ credits
compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). For some
countries, estimates were prepared by pooling creditor and debtor information.
Interest in arrears on long-term debt and the use of IMF credit are added to the
short-term debt estimates and shown as separate lines in section 1. Arrears of interest
and of principal owed to official and to private creditors are identified separately.
Export credits are shown as a memorandum item in section 1. They include official
export credits, and suppliers’ credits and bank credits officially guaranteed or
insured by an export credit agency. Both long-term and short-term export credits are
included. The source for this information is the Creditor Reporting System (CRS) of the
OECD.
Data on long-term debt reported by member countries are checked against, and
supplemented by, data from several other sources. Among these are the statements and
reports of several regional development banks and government lending agencies, as well as
the reports received by the World Bank under the CRS from the members of the Development
Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD.
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the debt
statistics. Nevertheless, quality and coverage vary among debtors and may also vary for
the same debtor from year to year. Coverage has been improved through the efforts of the
reporting agencies and the work of World Bank missions, which visit member countries to
gather data and to provide technical assistance on debt issues.
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