UK lending to national governments
The UK publishes information on its sovereign lending in line with the G20 Operational Guidelines for Sustainable Financing.
Information sharing by creditors is a crucial component of promoting debt sustainability. The UK, as a creditor to other national governments, is committed to adhering to the highest standards of debt transparency.
Under its G7 Presidency in 2021, the UK and other G7 countries committed to publishing their creditor portfolios on a loan-by-loan basis for future direct lending. This is in line with best practice in sovereign lending information-sharing and transparency practice as outlined in the G20 Operational Guidelines for Sustainable Financing (OGSF).
The aim of these guidelines is to “enhance access to sound financing for development while ensuring that sovereign debt remains on a sustainable path by fostering information sharing and cooperation among borrowers, creditors and international financial institutions, as well as learning through capacity building.”
In line with the G20 OGSF, the UK publishes quarterly updates on any new issued and effective sovereign direct lending, sovereign called guarantees and Paris Club restructuring agreements.
The UK also publishes its stock of sovereign exposure with data aggregated on a country-by-country basis, covering:
- debts arising from direct sovereign lending
- Paris Club debt restructuring agreements
- called guarantees under buyer credit agreements underwritten by UK Export Finance
- historical DFID bilateral lending administered by the World Bank’s International Development Association
Quarterly loan-by-loan data
Information on the UK’s direct loans to other national governments on a quarterly basis can be found at the below links.
Annual reports on outstanding debt
The UK’s annual reports on the outstanding stocks of debt owed by other countries to the UK can be found at the below link. The reports include aggregated data on a country-by-country basis.
Last updated 26 January 2024 + show all updates
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Annual reports on outstanding debt for 2023 added to the collection.
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Report on outstanding debt owed by other countries to Her Majesty’s Government in 2020
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Report on outstanding debt owed by other countries to His Majesty’s Government in 2022 added
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Added 'UK lending to other national governments in 2022-23' to Quarterly loan-by-loan data.
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First published.