Debt Sustainability & Relief

Many low-income and emerging economies are facing heavy debt burdens, limiting their ability to invest in education, healthcare, social protection, and infrastructure. For some, debt is already unsustainable. How can countries and their development partners chart a course for resilient economies and a brighter future for all?

Continued support to help Ukraine stabilize, repair, and rebuild is an investment in global stability and prosperity.

This conference will focus on debt sustainability, debt distress, and debt restructuring. 

World Bank officials, David Malpass, Anshula Kant and Jorge Familiar, hosted a panel to discuss the evolving role of private capital investment in providing sustainable finance for countries to meet development goals. This is in light of the world's current challenges that go beyond the normal scope of economic development. COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and other factors have left countries with high levels of debt, while climate concerns are mounting. To recoup development progress back to 2020 levels and adapt to climate change, trillions of dollars are needed.

What strategies can developing economies use to avoid debt crises and spur growth at a time when public debt levels are at a 50-year high?

World Bank Group President David Malpass and President of Queens' College, Cambridge University, Mohamed El-Erian had a conversation about global macroeconomic trends and their effects on development.

Did you know that despite making up 48% of the global work force – women only account for 22% of the traditional energy sector?

This event will frame the public conversation on how governments should prioritize where it is most important to take policy action and how to best allocate scarce resources to support the recovery. It will also consider how to address the growing risks of over-indebtedness and increased financial fragilities.

Debt in emerging market and developing economies has surged to a record high since the outbreak of COVID-19, but new analysis from the World Bank Group shows that the global and country-by-country systems for tracking it are proving to be grossly inadequate. Join the live discussion!

On April 7th, the World Bank invited several leading experts to explore perspectives on a new global financial architecture for debt. Speakers discussed lessons from past restructuring efforts, the private sector’s role, and the increased need for debt transparency.

This high-level panel discussion will look at the experiences and challenges experienced by senior policymakers in developing countries. Panelists will examine the conditions for preserving value in corporate restructurings and how countries are adapting legal and regulatory structures to the COVID-19 crisis, including insolvency and out-of-court workout mechanisms. They will discuss what has worked and what has not, as well as what is still needed to ensure that viable businesses can restructure and that those that need to exit the market can do so efficiently. James Sprayregen, Restructuring Partner, Kirkland & Ellis Reza Baqir, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan Hal S. Scott, Emeritus Nomura Professor of International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School Rosa Sacre, Managing Director of Société Générale’s Asset Recovery and Restructuring Management team Ramiro Alfonsín, Chief Financial Officer of LATAM Airlines Group Makhtar Diop, Managing Director and Executive Vice President, IFC Stephanie von Friedeburg, Senior Vice President, Operations, International Finance Corporation Join us ...

On October 13, David Malpass and global experts kicked off the 2020 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF with a detailed and important discussion about comprehensive solutions for rising public debt levels. 

Debt service suspension for the poorest countries could mean billions more to fight and recover from #COVID19. Global Director @MarcelloEstevao explains how this initiative could help low-income countries. The Resilient Recovery Series includes in-depth interviews with the Bank’s leading experts focused on health, social, and economic responses, as well as policies, institutions, and investments that will be critical to resilient, inclusive, and sustainable recovery. Check out the previous episodes!

The IMF and World Bank invite you to a conversation with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass on the debt situation in lower-income economies. They will discuss how these countries can best mobilize the funding necessary for development while ensuring public debt sustainability. The conversation will be moderated by Anna Gelpern, Professor of Law at Georgetown University, followed by a Q&A session with the audience.   For the full transcript. 

Rising debt levels pose a challenge to the global effort to end extreme poverty and achieve other Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. To meet these goals, countries will need to invest at least 4.5% of national GDP each year on infrastructure alone. They will need to find ways to finance these investments without letting debt grow to unmanageable levels. Debt transparency, as a result, has become an urgent priority—and the World Bank Group is stepping up its efforts in this area. This panel will bring together a diverse group of experts—representing the perspectives of governments, investors, and civil society organizations—to address three key questions: 1) Why is debt transparency important? 2) Why is it lacking in so many low-income countries? 3) What must be done to create the right incentives for greater debt transparency?

In front of a packed house in James D. Wolfensohn Atrium, Liliana Rojas-Suarez, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, led an expert panel in a discussion of the trade-offs between debt and growth facing developing countries. Across the board, the panelists agreed that when done strategically, borrowing is not a problem per se. Matthew Rycroft of DFID explained that although we should be concerned about overly rapid increases in debt amounts, in many cases, debt is a pre-requisite to growth. The real concern, explained Minister Cardenas of Colombia, is when countries borrow and fail to grow. Panelists also reached consensus around the ways external shocks, including refugee crises, can cause public debt levels to rise. For Minister Imad Fakhoury of Jordan, having a foundation of fiscal stability and a five-year growth plan focused on employment has been crucial to enabling the country to welcome refugees. For Colombia, which sees thousands of people cross its borders each day, Minister ...

For very different reasons, Greece and Iceland had major financial crises in the past ten years. The contrasts in origins of the crises, and in reform measures taken, provide important lessons for future crisis stricken countries and for the international community. About DEC Lectures The Development Economics Vice Presidency (DEC) launched its lecture series in April 2005 to bring distinguished academics to the Bank to present and discuss new knowledge on development. The purpose of the Lecture Series is to introduce ideas on cutting edge research, challenge and contribute to the Bank's intellectual climate, and reexamine current development theories and practices. The Lectures revisit issues of long-standing concern and explore emerging issues that promise to be central to future development discourse. The Lecture Series reflects DEC’s commitment to intellectual leadership and openness in embracing future challenges to reduce poverty. Related Links: DEC Lecture Series

Last year world leaders adopted a bold set of global goals to end extreme poverty and create a more sustainable, prosperous world. But what will it take to achieve them and where will the resources be found? Our development structures and their financial supports are under increasing pressure and facing strong headwinds in the shape of a challenging global economy, rising inequality, conflict and fragility as well as natural disasters and pandemics. How can we continue to build on the progress we have made and ensure it is not eroded away by our current challenges? Join a conversation with top development and finance leaders on the trends that are reshaping the development landscape and a vision for delivering a world free of extreme poverty where there is opportunity for all. Related Links: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation GatesNotes: The blog of Bill Gates

This book challenges the belief that private credit is essential to growth and fiat money is inevitably dangerous.