World Bank chief says legislative changes can aid sovereign debt restructurings

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President David Malpass said on Friday that G20 countries need to move forward with "deep, permanent debt relief" and some may need to make legislative changes to push private-sector creditors to support sovereign debt restructurings for distressed countries.

Malpass, in remarks to a G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting on Friday, said that

"Major jurisdictions may need to look to legislative changes to support faster progress if private creditors aren’t able to move forward on their own," Malpass said, referring to the bank's call to require public creditor institutions to disclose debt contracts and make refinancing agreements public. "Where good faith efforts to reach agreement with creditors are underway, tolerance of arrears accumulation may be necessary to support COVID-related spending."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)