- Efforts to improve debt transparency are underway in both the private and public sectors; the IMF and World Bank, for example, provide technical assistance on debt recording and reporting to developing countries through a range of programs.
- Recent public sector initiatives include the modernization of the IMF/World Bank Debt Sustainability Analysis Framework and the enhancement of the IMF’s Debt Limits Policy—both of which now require more comprehensive public debt data collection.
- Challenges remain, including: incentivizing sovereign borrowers to improve transparency on their debt obligations; limited resources to fund targeted technical assistance; difficulties in comparing data across different IMF and WB databases; incomplete coverage of sovereign debt data in publicly accessible IMF/WB databases and limited access to sovereign bond prospectuses.