Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on steps to help African countries manage (a) debt burdens and (b) service payments.

The Foreign Secretary regularly meets with international counterparts. As set out by the Foreign Secretary, Chancellor, and the former Minister for Development, tackling unsustainable debt is a key development priority for this government. Where low-income countries are facing unsustainable debt, the government's position is that they should undertake a restructuring through the G20 Common Framework. We welcome recent Common Framework debt agreements with Zambia and Ghana and are calling for efforts to strengthen and speed up debt restructurings.

We are also focussed on strengthening the system for the future. This means improving debt transparency, strengthening debt management, global implementation of sustainable lending and borrowing practices, and wider roll out of Natural Disaster Clauses which pause debt repayments when a climate or health disaster hits.