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The Suriname Debt Management Office (SDMO)
was established by the Public Debt Act of August 2002 (SB 2002 no.27).
The initial design & setup was done with the help of Crown Agents,
UK
and financed
through an IADB grant.
The Suriname Debt Management Office (SDMO) became operational on the 1st of August 2004, and all official tasks related to debt management were officially
handed over to SDMO by the former Loan Division of the Ministry of Finance. This means
that from 1st of August 2004 on, all debt management functions performed by the
Ministry of Finance became the sole responsibility of the Suriname Debt Management
Office, namely: loan negotiation and borrowing, debt recording and monitoring, debt
policy and strategy formulation and debt payment.
Starting off with a staff of only 4, SDMO is now fully operational with 9 members,
i.c. the Administrator-General, 6 staff members, 2 administrative personnel.
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The objectives of the buro are:
- Develop & implement debt management strategy
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Maintain central records of the National Debt
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Issue state loans and treasury Paper
- Payments of interest and debt installments
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Prepare publications regarding the National Debt
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Some important aspects of the Public Debt Act:
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Debt Ceilings (Article 3)
- The Debt Ceiling
for the Gross Domestic Public Debt is the nominal amount in Surinamese currency that is equal to 15 percent of the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rounded
up to thousands of Surinamese dollars.
- The Debt Ceiling for the Gross External Public Debt is the nominal amount in Surinamese dollars that is equal to 45 percent of the nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
rounded up to thousands of Surinamese dollars.
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The Creation of Debt Obligation (Article 4)
Only the Minister of Finance has
the authority to create monetary debt obligations and guaranteed commitments at the expense of the State up to a Debt Ceiling, with due observance of Article 3(5). Any agreement made in breach of this rule will be null and void.
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Voidability of obligations (Article 9)
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Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 5 and Article 25(1) and (2), the State may invoke the voidability of unauthorized monetary debt obligations or guaranteed commitments created at the State's expense and of any juristic acts performed in order to create those obligations.
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The State will also have the authority referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article if the Minister fails to act in accordance with the provisions of this Act when entering into any monetary debt obligations or guarantee commitments at the expense of the State.
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When the State initiates any legal proceedings as referred to in this Article, the State may claim that the party responsible for the creation of the debt obligations or guarantee commitments be held personally liable for the obligations created
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Aside from the management and the support staff the Debt Management Office has three
oprational units:
- Front Office
Responsible for the resource mobilisation and loan negotiation. - Middle Office
Portfolio & Risk management and all analytical aspects of debt - Back Office
Recording of new loans and management of debt service payments
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