The platform was unveiled on Wednesday on the margins of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington.
The country‑led initiative, supported by the United Nations (UN) Conference on Trade and Development, comes at a moment of mounting economic pressure for low‑ and middle‑income nations as the fallout from the war in the Middle East ripples through the global economy.
Rising oil prices are hitting import‑dependent countries particularly hard, from Caribbean economies to Pacific island states, driving up the cost of food and basic goods and placing added strain on low‑income households. According to UN analysis, the escalation in the conflict could push more than 30 million people into poverty worldwide, threatening to reverse years of development gains.
These shocks are compounding a debt crisis that has been building for over a decade. Developing countries now face sharply higher repayment costs, while access to affordable financing has narrowed. Least developed countries spend almost 25% of government revenue servicing external debt, and 54 countries, home to 3.4 billion people, now allocate more to debt repayments than to health or education. By 2024, the collective external debt of developing nations had climbed to $11.7 trillion.
Against this backdrop, the Borrowers’ Platform aims to give debtor countries a stronger, more coordinated voice. Open to nations at all levels of development and debt exposure, the initiative allows borrowers to share expertise, coordinate strategies and engage creditors on more equal terms.
Launching the platform, UN Secretary‑General António Guterres described it as a “breakthrough in global financing”, comparing it to long‑standing creditor groupings such as the Paris Club, London Club and the Institute of International Finance.
Borrower countries, he noted, have often been sidelined in discussions about their own debt, despite paying interest rates more than twice as high as those faced by advanced economies. “This leaves developing countries at a distinct disadvantage in accessing the financing they need,” Guterres said, calling it another example of inequality embedded in the global financial system.
Guterres warned that the Middle East war is intensifying existing challenges by driving up raw material and fuel costs, disrupting supply chains and slowing global growth. In this environment, he said, the Borrowers’ Platform could help participating countries share technical knowledge on restructuring, improve their negotiating capacity and send a clearer signal to markets that could ultimately lower borrowing costs.
Above all, the initiative seeks to put borrowers at the centre of debt discussions rather than on the margins. “Developing countries are rising economic actors,” Guterres said. “Global governance must adapt accordingly.”
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
