“Covid-19 has added $24 trillion to the already-worrying mountain of global debt. Countries are facing extra costs at a time when trade and other economic activities are being impeded by the pandemic, and there is recognition across our governments that prioritizing strategies and tools to ensure debt sustainability is crucial.”
? Commonwealth Secretariat representative Ms. Ruth Kattumuri
Commenting on the tripartite collaboration between the Secretariat, the India-UN Partnership Development Fund and the Government of the Bahamas in preparing the Public Debt Management Act, 2021, which was passed by the Parliament and enforced by the Governor General.
The technical support of the Commonwealth includes policy advisory services and software solutions such as the state-of-the-art Commonwealth Meridian debt management system, currently being used by central banks and government agencies across the Commonwealth to monitor transactions and conduct in-depth analysis to enable informed decisions for debt management.
The new public debt management legislation “affords us a modern and comprehensive framework for debt management, one that promotes greater accountability, transparency and efficiency in these operations, and which is necessary to help us navigate the more challenging operating environment for fiscal policy determination amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Hon. James Thompson, Minister of State for Finance.
