As the sovereign debt crisis in the Global South continues to unfold, the lack of involvement of multilateral development banks (MDBs) in debt relief efforts has become a contentious issue among major creditors. Although the Group of 20 (G20) has explicitly called for MDBs to develop options to share the burden of debt relief efforts, […]
By Claire Paul On September 9-10, the Group of 20 (G20) will meet in New Delhi, India for its Leaders’ Summit – a critical moment for world leaders as pressure for action on climate, the looming debt crisis, international architecture reform and capital resource mobilization – to name just a few key issues – mounts. […]
Due to multiple external shocks since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is facing acute debt distress and new highs in the cost of foreign capital. Concomitantly, the region needs to mobilize a stepwise level of financing to meet shared climate and development goals, under the Paris Agreement climate targets and the […]
By Leslie Elliott Armijo and Prateek Sood Global concern over the recent acrimonious debate surrounding raising the United States’ debt ceiling – and the tenuous relief following a long awaited agreement – illustrates the US dollar’s centrality in the national and world economies. While there would be an enormous cost to the reputation and leadership […]
In an environment characterized by rising interest rates and high uncertainty, avoiding a global recession is possible not by halting investment, but continuing to invest in public assets in the Global South. Public assets like railroads, bridges and other critical infrastructure are able not only to generate a positive yield, but also support sustainable structural […]
By Amanda Brown On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, the Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery (DRGR) Project hosted the webinar launch of its new report, “Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery: Guaranteeing Sustainable Development.” The DRGR Project is a collaboration between the Boston University Global Development Policy (GDP) Center, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and […]
As the global economy faces increasing challenges in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as interest rates continue to rapidly rise in the United States and across the Global North, emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) are facing a perfect storm of high inflation, increased borrowing costs and surging debt levels. Against this backdrop, […]
The rise of China as the world’s largest official bilateral creditor has not come without debate. Within US policymaking circles in particular, concerns have been voiced of the impact of Chinese finance and whether China engages in ‘debt trap diplomacy,’ wherein finance is lent with the intent to seize a strategic public asset or gain […]
By Ying Qian The year 2023 may prove devastating for Global South countries, as more and more find themselves engulfed in debt distress. Indeed, more than 60 countries have been identified by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as being in moderate to high debt distress or already in outright debt distress. Several countries such as […]
In 2021, economic losses from natural catastrophes totaled $270 billion. Poor climate physical risk assessment limits adaptation finance, which is still lagging behind mitigation finance in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), but also high-income countries. A new policy brief published by the European Capital Markets Institute and authored by Irene Monasterolo, Kevin P. Gallagher, […]