Showing 1 - 6 of 6
G20 must commit to debt relief
Oped, Olusegun Obasanjo, Published on 04/12/2025
» As G20 leaders met in Johannesburg last month, they faced a grim reality: many developing-country governments are spending more than they can afford on debt service. To keep funds flowing to foreign creditors, policymakers have been forced to cut spending on education, health care, and infrastructure. These countries have so far avoided default, but at the expense of their own development.
Sun-powered schools are a smart move
Oped, Rapeepat Ingkasit, Published on 19/02/2025
» Thailand's rising electricity costs are not just a concern for businesses; they are placing a financial burden on schools. In 2023, a local business daily, Bangkok Biz, reported that many schools were struggling with high electricity liabilities.
New IMF debt deal needs a rejig
Oped, C P Chandrasekhar & Martín Guzmán & Jayati Ghosh & Charles Abugre, Published on 03/10/2024
» Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka's president, recently lost his re-election bid after voters overwhelmingly rejected the debt-restructuring deals he negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other creditors. Instead, Sri Lankans elected Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the left-wing National People's Power (NPP) alliance and a vocal critic of IMF-imposed austerity measures, who has vowed to renegotiate the country's agreement with the fund.
Credit ratings and climate chaos
Oped, Emily Wilkinson & Kanni Wignaraja, Published on 13/12/2023
» The sun-drenched coral islands and reefs of the Maldives are in existential danger. With 80% of the country's population living just one metre above sea level, many islands could become uninhabitable as climate change causes the ocean's level to rise. By the end of this century, half a million people could be displaced. The Maldives is confronting this threat with a range of innovative adaptation initiatives, from restoring coral reefs to floating solar-power systems. But survival does not come cheap.
The fall of SVB: Another predictable bank failure
Oped, Joseph E Stiglitz, Published on 17/03/2023
» The run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) -- on which nearly half of all venture-backed tech start-ups in the United States depend -- is in part a rerun of a familiar story, but it's more than that. Once again, economic policy and financial regulation have proven inadequate.
The US inflation bonanza for sovereign debtors
Oped, Gautam Nair and Federico Sturzenegger, Published on 08/10/2022
» As developing countries confront a new era of elevated inflation, rising interest rates, a stronger dollar, and capital outflows, some governments stand to benefit from a little-noticed bonanza. During the "Great Moderation" that preceded the Covid-19 pandemic, years of low inflation led to the growth of sovereign debt issued at fixed interest rates and long maturities. Now, two years of unexpected inflation in the United States have effectively diluted this debt.