Bilateral Partners - a country's main trading partners.
Bonds - a debt investment issued by an entity in which an investor lends money to the entity (corporate or governmental) for a defined period of time at an agreed interest rate.
Bondholders - a holder of bonds issued by a government or corporation.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) - a measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food and medical care. The CPI is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them; the goods are weighted according to their importance. Changes in CPI are used to assess price changes associated with the cost of living.
Debt Exchange - where a borrower offers its bondholders the chance to exchange existing old bonds for new bonds usually with an extension in the maturity and also possibly a change in the coupon.
Debt Restructuring - an exchange of outstanding sovereign debt instruments, such as loans or bonds, for new debt instruments or cash through a legal process.
Debt swap – a transaction by which a debt, is swapped for other assets.
Debt sustainability - debt "sustainability" is often defined as the ability of a country to meet its debt obligations without requiring debt relief or accumulating arrears. To assess this type of debt sustainability, three main international methodologies have been developed. They all involve making projections of intended borrowings and economic variables over a maximum 20-year period, and then using ratios comparing debt stock, present value or service with GDP, exports or budget revenue to assess payment capacity.
Debt to GDP Ratio - a measure of a country's outstanding debt in relation to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This ratio is comparing what a country owes to what it produces.
Domestic debt - debt owed by the central government to its citizens.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - total value at market prices of all goods and services produced within a country's border.
Gross National Product (GNP) - the net income earned by a country from residents living overseas added to the GDP.
Haircut - a percentage reduction of the principal amount.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) - is an international organization that provides financial assistance and advice to member countries. The IMF was born at the end of World War II, out of the Bretton Woods Conference in 1945. It was created out of a need to prevent economic crises like the Great Depression. With its sister organization, the World Bank, the IMF is the largest public lender of funds in the world.
IMF Board Approval - approval of an economic programme for a country by the Board of the IMF.
IMF Extended Fund Facility - a three to five year period of Balance of Payments support for a country by the IMF.
Medium term objectives -major macroeconomic/fiscal targets over a three to five year period.
Multilateral Partners - international institutions such as the World Bank (IBRD), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Inter American Development Bank (IDB).
National Debt Exchange - an exchange of debt instruments between the government and its creditors.
Old/New Bonds - In a debt exchange the old bonds are those issued prior to the debt exchange, whereas new bonds are those issued arising from the exchange.
Primary Surplus - The difference between total revenue and total expenditure net of interest payments.
Prior Actions - refers to key actions that a government must take prior to an IMF Board approval.
"Private creditors in the debt exchange" - creditors that are neither governments nor public sector agencies participating in the debt exchange.
Staff- Level Agreement - an agreement on the medium term macroeconomic targets between a Government's technical staff and the International Monetary Fund technical staff.