Organized by International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs) in partnership with Oxfam in Asia and Chulalongkorn…
Innovation in Debt Restructuring Deals FDL - IEA Webinar | 31 October 2023 | 9:00 am EST, 3:00 pm CET
The sovereign debt distress landscape is evolving both through “practice”, the actual resolutions of individual cases, and through architectural changes. Only a few debt-restructuring deals have been completed in recent months (Chad, Suriname), while several are making partial progress (Zambia, Ghana, Sri Lanka), and a few remain stuck (Lebanon). Yet, several innovations are starting to appear.
The recent Zambia bilateral debt deal has attempted to deal with China’s objections over burden sharing by MDBs. As in the case of Chad, it has also introduced a contingent repayment schedule that rises if rapid progress is achieved in regaining creditworthiness. In Ghana and Sri Lanka, domestic debt has been brought into the debt restructuring perimeter, but not in Zambia.
What do we learn from those innovations? Are they likely to influence future deals? Do current negotiations suggest that other innovations are needed?
Our central interest is to explore how debt deals can manage to help debtor countries not only stabilize their economy, but also to secure a path to recovery and sustainable growth, in the context of programs supported by the IMF and other MDBs. From this perspective, to what extent do recent innovations help? Which ones should stick, and which ones should we be more careful about? Which other innovations should we seek?
Chair:
DANI RODRIK
Harvard University & International Economic Association (IEA)
Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government & President of the International Economic Association
SPEAKERS:
Ugo Panizza
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
C. P. Chandrasekhar
UMass Amherst & Jawaharlal Nehru University
Vera Songwe
Liquidity and Sustainability Facility & Brookings Institution
Ishac Diwan
Finance for Development Lab
Discussants:
Hanan Morsy
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Martin Guzman
Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University
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