The origins of the current debt crisis are both historical and more recent. They include global power dynamics, international and regional barriers to trade and infrastructure development, national political histories and governance decisions around economic development, and climatic and other natural disasters.
Alongside the rise of new country and institutional lenders over the past 25 years, with different approaches to transparency and terms of lending, there is increasing discussion about the nature and governance of traditional multi-lateral lending institutions and the role of credit agencies. However, decisions on how, when, and for what purposes debt should be taken on lie with national decision-makers.
In this fourth and last session of our webinar series on public debt, our expert panelists will be addressing several important questions such as:
- How can we improve the governance of debt decision-making, and monitoring of its usage?
- Why and under which circumstances do governments accumulate more debt than it would be consistent with the prescriptions of optimal fiscal policy?
- What political mechanisms make governments depart from optimal and sustainable decisions on public debt?
- How do political interests constrain borrowing decisions?
- What is the role of international financial institutions, debtor nations, creditors, and other stakeholders?
Panel members:
- Dr. Ben Cormier, Lecturer and Chancellor's Fellow, Department of Government and Public Policy at the University of Strathclyde, UK.
- Ms. Penelope Hawkins, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Debt and Development Finance Branch, Globalisation and Development Strategies, UNCTAD.
- Ms. Yunnan Chen, Research Fellow, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), UK.
Moderator: Mr. Shem Joshua Otieno, Policy Analyst and Advocacy Officer Sovereign Debt Management, AFRODAD.
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