Creditor composition varies significantly among DSSI countries. This is reflected when looking at the distribution of the share of each major creditor or group of creditors in the total external debt of the 68 DSSI countries for which data is available (Chart 5).
Chart 5
Private creditors’ exposures, in particular, are concentrated in a limited number of DSSI countries. Within the 68 DSSI countries for which data is available, 22 countries have a debt to private creditors that exceeds 15 percent of their total external debt, with these countries representing 83 percent of the total exposure of private creditors; only 26 countries report bonded debt; 18 do not report any private debt (Chart 6).
Chart 6
China’s exposure is also concentrated but its share among official bilateral creditors is such that it would play a key role in most debt restructurings involving these creditors. Within the 68 DSSI countries for which data is available, 22 countries have a debt to China that exceeds 20 percent of their total external debt. Reciprocally, these 22 countries represent 76 percent of China’s total exposure to DSSI countries. Of these, 6 countries (Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lao PDR, Pakistan, and Zambia) together account for about half of China’s total exposure to DSSI countries. That said, China is the biggest official bilateral creditor in more than half of the DSSI countries, including when counting all 22 Paris Club creditors as a single pool, with a median share of China in the total debt owed to official bilateral creditors reaching 43 percent. As such, China would play a key role in most DSSI countries’ debt restructurings that would involve official bilateral creditors.
Chart 2
