Jubilee USA partnered with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung New York to publish the Practice of Sovereign Debt Sustainability Analysis, by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Martín Guzmán.

The paper was the fourth to launch as part of a series that gathered practitioners to write on the theme "Debt Sustainability Assessments and their Role in the Global Financial Architecture." The papers will be chapters in a report to appear later in the summer. 

Practice of Sovereign Debt Sustainability Analysis, by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Martín Guzmán

Debt Sustainability Analyses (DSAs) are documents that hold serious implications for both debtors and creditors in sovereign debt negotiations. DSAs are not merely technical assessments of countries’ capacity to take on debt but are also grounded in political assumptions. A new study by Martín Guzmán and Joseph E. Stiglitz looks at the practice of the IMF’s debt sustainability analysis. They discuss how incentives and competing interests of stakeholders shape understandings of the debt sustainability constraints, endogenous effects of macroeconomics and fiscal policies, and beliefs on distribution of shocks. They identify areas for improvements in DSAs opportunity and publication timelines, dealing with the IMF’s role as a creditor, the treatment of foreign vs domestic currency debt, choosing correct discount factors, and the causes of over-optimism in baseline growth scenarios. 

Find the webpage for the "Debt Sustainability Assessments and their Role in the Global Financial Architecture" series here.

Jubilee USA partnered with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung New York to publish the Practice of Sovereign Debt Sustainability Analysis, by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Martin Guzman.

The paper was the fourth to launch as part of a series that gathered practitioners to write on the theme "Debt Sustainability Assessments and their Role in the Global Financial Architecture." The papers will be chapters in a report to appear later in the summer. 

Practice of Sovereign Debt Sustainability Analysis, by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Martin Guzman

Debt Sustainability Analyses (DSAs) are documents that hold serious implications for both debtors and creditors in sovereign debt negotiations. DSAs are not merely technical assessments of countries’ capacity to take on debt but are also grounded in political assumptions. A new study by Martín Guzmán and Joseph E. Stiglitz looks at the practice of the IMF’s debt sustainability analysis. They discuss how incentives and competing interests of stakeholders shape understandings of the debt sustainability constraints, endogenous effects of macroeconomics and fiscal policies, and beliefs on distribution of shocks. They identify areas for improvements in DSAs opportunity and publication timelines, dealing with the IMF’s role as a creditor, the treatment of foreign vs domestic currency debt, choosing correct discount factors, and the causes of over-optimism in baseline growth scenarios. 

Find the webpage for the "Debt Sustainability Assessments and their Role in the Global Financial Architecture" series here.

As world leaders arrive in Washington, DC for the Spring IMF and World Bank Meetings, the IMF releases its flagship World Economic Outlook report. 

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network and a United Nations finance expert who monitored IMF meetings since 2010, releases the following statement on the IMF Meetings and World Economic Outlook Report:

“Five years after the pandemic began, the IMF forecasts weak global growth for the next five years.

"In addition to the suffering caused by wars and conflicts, it is more difficult to have accurate economic outlook predictions.

“High debt levels across developing countries and the lack of debt relief means we can't achieve a strong global economy."

Read the full World Economic Outlook Report here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain raiser speech here. 

The Evangelist mentions Jubilee USA as the driving forces behind the passage of the New York Taxpayer and International Debt Crises Protection Act (S4747, A2970). Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full article.

A Catholic approach to global debt

By Walter Ayres

Earlier this month, Albany became the focus of a campaign to address the complicated issue of international debt in a way that is fair and just.

So I happily joined representatives of various faiths, advocacy groups and labor organizations for a rally at the Capitol in support of legislation that would, in the process, also address matters such as inflation, high-food costs and the reality that developing countries need debt relief as quickly as possible.

The focus of this concern is a bill known as the New York Taxpayer and International Debt Crises Protection Act (S4747, A2970), sponsored by Assemblymember Patricia Fahy. The New York State Catholic Conference supports the bill because “these debt relief initiatives have direct, positive effects for our trading partners, the legislation addresses U.S. inflation and economic and supply shocks and helps bring down the cost of eggs, flour, coffee and other commodities.”

Read here for more.

Honduran newspaper El Heraldo quoted Eric LeCompte in an article discussing $300 million on SDRs allocated to Honduras. Read an excerpt below and the full article here.

$300 million will favor Honduras 

By Roldán Duarte Maradiaga 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will carry out a global issuance of Special Drawing Rights (SDR), in favor of its members, for an amount of US $ 650,000 million, “destined to underpin the global economic recovery and help the nations that must face gigantic levels of debt”. That amount is expected to be distributed according to the quotas of each country.

Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, believes that the measure adopted by the IMF "will not be enough." He believes that: "Rich countries that receive emergency reserves that they do not need, should transfer those resources to developing countries that are fighting the pandemic." In this case, we must await the reaction of the advanced countries."

Read more here.