(Reuters) -The legal framework surrounding private-sector-owned sovereign debt has proven largely effective, especially for bonded debt, but gaps remain for loans and collateralized debt and restructurings have become longer and more complex, the International Monetary Fund said in a paper published on Tuesday.

The paper, updated every five years by the IMF, draws on restructuring cases from 2020 to mid-2025 and highlights lessons from eight restructurings involving private creditors and shows a mix of successes and bottlenecks in the process.

Government debt and deficits increased significantly after the COVID pandemic, and even as debt levels have stabilized the risks remain, according to the fund. Delays in restructurings are costly to governments in need of fresh financing, to their

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