Governor's Statement - WBG Governor's Statement No. 10 - October 15, 2020

Jul 19, 2026

Statement by Taro Aso, Governor of the Bank for Japan, to outline expectations for the IMF and the World Bank amid the COVID-19 shock. It reviews global recovery trends, highlights elevated debt vulnerabilities, and calls for structural solvency improvements for low-income countries alongside liquidity support. The statement emphasizes extending and operationalizing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative and the Common Framework, strengthening debt transparency and data reconciliation, and continuing IMF surveillance and crisis-response lending tools.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Global economy and the Japanese economy

Expectations for the IMF and the World Bank

Debt treatments beyond the DSSI

IMF surveillance and crisis response

Resource mobilization

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized WBG Governor's Statement No. 10 October 15, 2020 Statement by the Hon. TARO ASO, Governor of the Bank for JAPAN Statement by the Hon. Taro Aso, Governor of the Bank for Japan I. THE GLOBAL ECONOMY AND THE JAPANESE ECONOMY The global economy has faced the unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries have mobilized all possible policy tools to respond to their epidemic and economic challenges. These efforts are allowing the global economy to start gradually recovering from the sharp contraction. However, uncertainty of global economic outlook remains unusually high. The recovery is uneven, with some economies picking up faster than anticipated, while others reinstating lockdowns due to a resurgence in infection. Debt levels are higher than ever, and restoring debt sustainability has become an urgent task in developing countries. Despite headwinds, the Japanese economy is showing signs of improvement, including in private consumption and production, following gradual reopening of economic activities starting end-May. To keep infection under control and promote economic activities in tandem, the Japanese Government has taken large-scale measures over 230 trillion yen (approximately $2.2 trillion), including two supplementary budgets and use of contingency funds. The new administration formed in September is making every effort to restore strong economic growth by addressing medium-to long-term challenges as well such as digitalization, regional revitalization, and declining birthrate and aging population. II. EXPECTATIONS FOR THE IMF AND THE WORLD BANK First, let me express Japan’s expectations for both organizations. Heightened debt vulnerabilities in some low-income countries are serious concerns of the global community. Given the impact of the COVID-19, this problem has become even more serious. To ensure sustainable economic growth in developing countries, we need to take measures to structurally improve solvency of these countries, on top of liquidity support by the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) . We have taken two big steps forward: the G20’s decision on the DSSI extension and the G20’s agreement in principle on the “Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI”. The G20 must finalize and publish the Common Framework at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in November 2020, to meet the expectations of developing countries and the global community. All official bilateral creditors should implement the DSSI and participate in the debt treatment beyond the DSSI fully and in a transparent manner. Private creditors should also provide debt treatment at least as favorable for developing countries as that provided by official creditors. In addition, with a view to ensuring debt sustainability in developing countries, we expect the IMF and World Bank to effectively support steady implementation of reforms by the authorities of these countries. Furthermore, we expect the IMF and World Bank to continue their work to enhance debt transparency and ensure accuracy of debt data and urge all official bilateral creditors to cooperate with them on their Debt Data Reconciliation. Next, I will touch upon Japan’s expectations for the IMF. IMF surveillance is essential to support member governments to understand current economic conditions, from both global and country-specific perspectives, and to take appropriate policy actions. Japan supports the IMF’s continued efforts to improve surveillance, such as the Comprehensive Surveillance Review scheduled for 2020. In addition, we expect the IMF to incorporate the G20 outcomes this year into their surveillance, and utilize surveillance findings in their lending and capacity development programs. The IMF has played a critical role in responding to the unprecedented crisis. Japan highly values its various actions in a short period of time, including

FAQs

What economic conditions does the statement describe for the global and Japanese economies?

The statement describes an unprecedented global crisis from COVID-19 followed by uneven recovery and persistently high uncertainty. It also notes improvement signals in Japan after gradual reopening and large-scale government measures.

What does the statement call for regarding debt treatment for low-income countries?

It calls for structural measures to improve solvency beyond liquidity support, and urges the G20 to finalize and publish the Common Framework. It also requests full, transparent implementation of the DSSI by official bilateral creditors and comparably favorable treatment by private creditors.

How does the statement expect the IMF and World Bank to support reforms and debt transparency?

It expects the institutions to effectively support steady reform implementation and to enhance debt transparency through accurate debt data. It further urges cooperation with Debt Data Reconciliation efforts.

Jul 19, 2026

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