Earlier this year, the World Bank conducted the second round of a Data Sharing Exercise with G-7 and Paris Club creditors. This is the first large-scale effort of its kind to systematically compare creditor- and debtor-reported data at the loan-by-loan level. Since the release of the March 2025 report, the 2025 G-7 Finance Ministers’ Communiqué highlighted the exercise and emphasized the importance of advancing debt transparency and improving both the availability and the quality of debt data. But have you ever wondered what it takes to reconcile all that data? Here’s a look behind the scenes at what that process involves. […]