Showing 1 - 10 of 20
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.
Thai SMEs are in need of a lifeline
Oped, Dai Kadomae, Published on 07/08/2025
» Thailand's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are quietly suffering through a credit crunch with far-reaching implications. Despite accounting for over 90% of registered businesses, SMEs are finding it harder than ever to access capital. The economic recovery has been uneven, and traditional lenders -- still cautious after the pandemic -- are reducing risk exposure. But the core issue is not merely liquidity; it is the absence of a national system for reviving viable but stressed firms.
Resetting development finance
Oped, Carlos Cuerpo and Joseph E Stiglitz, Published on 03/07/2025
» At the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development this week in Seville, delegates are calling for urgent action to fix a system that has stopped working. Prior to the third such gathering a decade ago, in Ethiopia, we had witnessed unprecedented advances towards reducing poverty, increasing school enrolment, and providing clean water worldwide. Today, however, progress is not only slowing but potentially stagnating -- or, worse, reversing.
Ability to pay key to debt restructuring
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 03/04/2025
» Last week's earthquake has provided Thais with two valuable lessons. First, Thailand has no national disaster management plan. No government agency seems to have had carefully thought-out plans and procedures to manage the situation. All measures were carried out on an ad-hoc basis. Worse, there appears to be no coordination among various agencies. Thais were left to rely on their own two feet as thousands of Bangkokians had no choice but to walk for hours to their homes when the mass transit railways were shutdown.
Risk of financial crisis creeps ever closer
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 06/02/2025
» When I started writing this article last week, I said to myself: "This might be another article no one will believe." Financial crisis? You must be out of your mind. The situation seems to be under control and it is likely to improve in 2025. After all, the Ministry of Finance has projected GDP growth for this year to be 2.5% to 3.5%, with a base case of 3.0%. No crisis can happen under such healthy growth, surely.
Household debt plan has many flaws
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 28/11/2024
» It is unanimously agreed that household debt is one of the major economic problems of Thailand. Non-performing loans (NPL) from household debt amount to 1.2 trillion baht according to the National Credit Bureau (NCB). If it includes Special Mentioned (SM) debt (31-90 days of default), the bad debt level would rise to 1.7 trillion baht, or about 12.3% of total household debt outstanding.
Debt woes far from over
News, Editorial, Published on 31/07/2024
» The news about a 72-year-old woman who was beaten up by debt collectors last week has cast doubts on the supposed successes of the government's campaign to combat loansharking.
Debtors rock but creditors may not roll
Oped, Anne O Krueger, Published on 26/12/2023
» In its latest World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that a rising share of countries -- 56% of low-income countries and 25% of emerging markets -- are "in or at high levels of debt distress".
Political tsunami sweeps Southern Hemisphere
Oped, John J. Metzler, Published on 26/10/2023
» 'It's the last bus stop in the world," a former New Zealand prime minister once told me while he was visiting New York. Indeed a remote South Pacific island nation of merely 5 million, known for the Kiwi, its All Blacks Rugby team, and some pretty good wines, was sadly hobbled by a woke progressive government who turned the once idyllic place into a land beset by inflation, unaffordable housing and rampant crime and gangs.
Addressing the great debt conundrum
Oped, Anne O Krueger, Published on 30/09/2023
» The exponential growth of international capital flows, predominantly in the form of debt, has been one of the great development successes of the past 50 years. But while foreign lending has played a pivotal role for developing economies, loans are a two-edged sword. When used judiciously, they can generate high returns, boost GDP growth, and improve the well-being of borrower countries. But if debts accumulate and the debt-servicing burden increases without a commensurate increase in repayment capacity, the consequences can be severe and even disastrous.