At CABRI’s policy dialogue on managing contingent liabilities, delegates from 13 African countries considered the threat to debt sustainability posed by guarantees for state-owned entities’ debt.

This position paper captures the deliberations of the dialogue around five themes: (i) the role of regulatory frameworks that guide the management of contingent liabilities; (ii) the role of a debt office in strengthening contingent liability management; (iii) the importance of credit risk assessments in proactively managing contingent liabilities; (iv) the importance of measurement for timely identification and mitigation of fiscal risk arising from contingent liabilities; and (v) the importance of adequate disclosure and auditing of guarantee to SOEs.