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STORY: UN / GUTERRES BORROWERS PLATFORM
TRT: 2:26
SOURCE: UNITED NATIONS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 APRIL 2026, WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES
1. Wide shot, members speaking at the panel
2. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Today we launch a breakthrough in global financing. A platform in which borrowing countries sit together, learn from each other, and speak with a collective voice.”
3. Wide shot, members speaking at the panel
4. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Many countries are trapped in cycles of unresolved debt crises. Many more are held back by vast debt repayments that drain public resources and undermine long-term investment. Over the past decade, developing countries have paid, on average, more than twice the interest rates faced by advanced economies. For African economies, the premium reaches three times benchmark rates. This 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. We need to fix a system that makes it two to three times more expensive for developing countries to finance education, health or water systems.”
5. Wide shot, members speaking at the panel
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“The war in the Middle East is sending shockwaves through the global economy. Rising fuel and raw material costs are tightening fiscal space. Transportation systems and supply chains are strained. Growth is slowing. Borrowing costs are climbing even higher — especially for the most vulnerable.”
7. Wide shot, members speaking at the panel
8. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“In the end, the cost of finance is not measured only in balance sheets. It is measured in hospitals and schools. In food, water and sanitation. In jobs, social protection, and housing. In transport systems and resilient infrastructure. It is measured in people’s lives. The Borrowers Platform can help generate solutions that allow countries to invest in these fundamentals — and to do so on fairer, more sustainable terms. I am deeply encouraged by the energy and commitment behind this initiative. I call on every eligible country to join. And I offer my full support as the Borrowers Platform moves from the launch pad to take-off.”
9. Wide shot, members speaking at the panel
At the launch of the Borrowers’ Platform, Secretary-General António Guterres said the initiative brings borrowing countries together to share knowledge and speak with a collective voice, calling it “a breakthrough in global financing.”
Ministers of finance and central bank governors of developing countries convened on the margins of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings today (15 Apr) to launch the Borrowers’ Platform to improve their debt management capacity.
The initiative is Member State-led, with UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) serving as the secretariat. The platform's launch comes amid rising debt pressures across developing countries. Their external debt burden reached $11.7 trillion in 2024. A total of 54 countries, home to 3.4 billion people, now spend more on debt than on health or education.
The Secretary-General said, “many countries are trapped in cycles of unresolved debt crises. Many more are held back by vast debt repayments that drain public resources and undermine long-term investment.”
He noted that over the past decade, developing countries have paid, on average, more than twice the interest rates faced by advanced economies. For African economies, the premium reaches three times benchmark rates, Guterres pointed out.
The Secretary-General said, “this 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.”
Guterres reiterated, “we need to fix a system that makes it two to three times more expensive for developing countries to finance education, health or water systems.”
Highlining the war in the Middle East is sending shockwaves through the global economy, the UN chief warned, “rising fuel and raw material costs are tightening fiscal space. Transportation systems and supply chains are strained. Growth is slowing. Borrowing costs are climbing even higher — especially for the most vulnerable.”
The Secretary- General explained that the Platform brings developing countries together around four objectives: accelerating shared learning on complex debt issues, strengthening borrowers’ capacity to negotiate effectively with creditors, improving market perceptions through better transparency and debt management, and providing a coordinated collective voice within the global debt architecture.
Guterres said, “In the end, the cost of finance is not measured only in balance sheets. It is measured in hospitals and schools. In food, water and sanitation. In jobs, social protection, and housing. In transport systems and resilient infrastructure. It is measured in people’s lives.”
He emphasized, “the Borrowers Platform can help generate solutions that allow countries to invest in these fundamentals — and to do so on fairer, more sustainable terms.”
Guterres said he is encouraged by the energy and commitment behind this initiative and called on every eligible country to join.
“And I offer my full support as the Borrowers Platform moves from the launch pad to take-off,” the Secretary-General concluded.
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