Debt restructuring and resolution are urgent issues for many low and middle income nations, and the G20 agrees that these matters must be speedily dispensed with, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. She told a press conference here on Thursday that discussions of G20 countries and multiple stakeholders on these issues on the sidelines of the annual spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank were to ensure that resolution for countries in debt should happen in time. Representatives of some of the countries facing debt such as Sri Lanka, Zambia, Ghana and Ethiopia were present for the discussions.

The finance minister said the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, held on Wednesday, has also brought in a certain avenue for people to talk about how they will have to work towards addressing debt distress and amid an emerging global debt landscape, Sitharaman said. Zambia did mention that it had applied almost a year and a half ago for debt resolution and is still waiting. "That point that it is a very time consuming process and even when the IMF (International Monetary Fund) says it is all right, we are handling your affair, it does take time after that as well," she said.