Definition: Exceptional financing

External debt - IMF

As an alternative to—or in conjunction with—the use of reserve assets, IMF credit and loans, and liabilities constituting foreign authorities’ reserves, to deal with payments imbalance, exceptional financing denotes any other arrangements made by the authorities of an economy to finance balance of payments needs. The identification of exceptional financing transactions is linked to an analytical concept rather than being based on precise criteria. Among the transactions regarded as exceptional financing transactions are debt forgiveness, debt-for-equity swaps, and other types of transactions relating to debt reorganizations. Under certain circumstances, some borrowings by the government or other sectors might meet the criterion.