Rockefeller Foundation Plan Could Cover About 40 Potential Participants

The Rockefeller Foundation has proposed a financing framework that could cover about 40 potential participants, aiming to address liquidity and investment-financing gaps in countries whose debt levels are described as sustainable. The plan would coordinate longer-term support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank with commitments from creditor governments.

The proposal calls for an IMF facility alongside regular lending and expanded World Bank financing and guarantees. Governments seeking support would prepare medium-term investment plans tied to growth priorities and reforms. G20 bilateral creditors would maintain their exposure during the programs through new financing, refinancing or maturity extensions. Development banks could guarantee refinancing of costly private loans. The framework also calls for stronger debt disclosure and clauses that could pause payments after shocks.

The potential participant group has about $80 billion in principal payments due to G20 members through 2030. That is existing debt scheduled for repayment, not the size of the proposed financing package. The proposal does not set an overall funding amount, provide a final country list or establish an agreed implementation schedule. It also does not represent commitments from the IMF, World Bank or G20.

The framework is meant for countries facing cash-flow or investment-financing shortages while maintaining sustainable debt. It would complement debt restructuring for countries whose obligations are unsustainable.

Financing pressures are also reflected in recent debt flows. Low- and middle-income countries had about $741 billion more in external debt repayments and interest than new financing from 2022 through 2024, the largest such outflow in more than 50 years. For low-income developing countries, interest payments in 2025 equaled 2.3% of gross domestic product, or nearly 15% of total revenue. The revenue share was more than five percentage points above its 2015 level.

“To solve this, we don’t need a debt initiative; we need a growth initiative,” said Christina Segal-Knowles, managing director for international policy at The Rockefeller Foundation.

The proposal urges G20 members to build political support under the United Kingdom’s 2027 presidency. The United Kingdom is set to lead the group next year, but the financing framework remains a proposal.