Time to address extreme indebtedness: UNDP

There is a sense of unease growing in many developing countries and low-income countries that the debt situation has reached a crisis point, United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) administrator Achim Steiner said, calling for urgent action on the issue.

The caution comes amid deliberations at the G20 on how best the address the issue of extreme indebtedness.

In an interview with ET, he said the common framework agreement reached with Zambia took a very long time and only four countries are covered now through the framework.


Well over 50 countries are under that distress, or facing a step away from default. "I would argue, and I think many observers would argue, that this is not an adequate set of steps that are being taken right now," he said on the sidelines of the G20 Finance ministers and central bank governors meeting here.

Asked as to what was holding up a decision on the framework, he cited multiple issues being responsible including geopolitical ones.

"The geopolitical tensions that have emerged over the last 2 years have certainly rendered an emergency response platform such as the G20 less able to function and to operate in the way it is intended to," he said pointing out how it is leading to a lack of response.

"Things take longer, disagreements are persistent, communiques cannot be agreed, and this translates also then into, you know, unclear or unambitious mandates to the international financial institutions."