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Overview
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) are conducting a review of the joint IMF-WB Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries (LIC-DSF).
The LIC-DSF is an analytical tool for assessing debt vulnerabilities. It is used for countries that mostly rely on IMF and WB concessional financing. The LIC-DSF is used by the IMF and WBG to support policy advice and guide lending decisions, and is also provided as a public good for use by creditors, borrowers and other stakeholders. The framework was originally launched in 2005 and is reviewed and updated periodically.
This review takes place amidst elevated debt vulnerabilities, more differentiated financing sources and creditor composition, including increased reliance on domestic and external borrowing on commercial terms. It provides an opportunity to ensure that the LIC-DSF remains fit-for-purpose and future-proof in this changing debt landscape.
About this Public Consultation
The IMF and WBG have been committed to an open and inclusive engagement process throughout this Review. Since its launch in April 2024, the process has benefited from an extensive engagement with external stakeholders, including on the margins of the IMF-WBG Spring and Annual Meetings , and through a number of other fora, including those organized by civil society.
Since its launch, staff have also periodically engaged with IMF and WBG Boards. In April 2026, taking account of earlier engagements, IMF and WB staffs presented to the IMF and WBG Boards a set of proposed reforms. The presentation that is the subject of this public consultation provides a primer on the existing LIC-DSF, summarizes the findings from the backward-looking analysis of the performance of the framework, identifies areas for improvement to future-proof it, and outlines staffs’ preliminary findings and consideration of reforms with the view to generate an open dialogue on the key topics for this review. The accompanying background note provides further details.
The final proposals will reflect the outcome from this public consultation, together with the feedback from the Boards and other users, and are expected to be presented to the Executive Boards of the IMF and World Bank Group in Autumn 2026.
We invite you to take part in this important process by submitting your feedback on the review by filling in this form. If you would like to work on your answers before submitting the form, you can find the questions included in the survey at the end of this website. However, kindly note that all feedback must be submitted electronically (no paper submissions will be considered) through the online forms referenced below, ideally by June 26th and no later than July 3rd.
Tentative timeline of the review and consultation process
The review and public consultation on the LIC‑DSF follow the tentative timeline outlined below:
Questions included in the survey
Kindly note these questions are listed here in case you wish to work in your responses offline before submitting the form. Please note that all responses must be submitted electronically, without exception, through the online form, ideally by June 26th and no later than July 3rd.
While we welcome feedback on any aspect of LIC-DSF, we are specifically interested in your feedback on the following questions:
All fields with an asterisk (*) are required.
Section A: Demographic Information
* 1 First Name
* 2 Surname
* 3 Email Address
*4 Name of the organization you represent
* 5 Country where the Headquarters/main office of the organization you represent is located
* 6 The results of this online consultation will be published. Please indicate below if you would like your response to be published with or without the name of your organization
Choice:
I don’t want my name or the name of my organization to be published alongside my responses
I want my name and the name of my organization to be published alongside my responses
*7. Please indicate below which category best reflects the organization you work for
Choice:
*8. Please indicate below the main geographical focus of the organization you work for
Choice:
Section B: Feedback questions
9. We would welcome your views on the main reform proposals. In your response, you may consider the questions below (10,000 characters):
10. Do the proposed reforms strike the right balance between analytical rigor and ease-of-use? (1700 characters)
11. Please share any additional feedback on the LIC-DSF (3500 characters)
12. Please insert URL of report you may have published related to the LIC DSF for staffs’ consideration (200 characters).
Contact information
Should you have any questions, please contact us via email:
Emilia Berazategui, CSO Lead: eberazategui@Imf.org
licdsf_engagement2026@worldbank.org.
Submit feedback: English | French | Spanish | Arabic
1 To access the Arabic translation of the survey, please send an email to publicaffairs@imf.org with the subject line: “LIC-DSF Public Consultation – Arabic translation of the Survey.” The team will then send it to you directly.
