Borrow with Sorrow? The Changing Risk Profile of Sub-Saharan Africa's Debt

In the post-global financial crisis period, the financing of countercyclical policies led not only to a reduction in the fiscal surpluses across Sub-Saharan African countries, but also an increase in their levels of indebtedness. Although public de...

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Main Authors:	Calderon, Cesar, Zeufack, Albert G.
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2020
Subjects:	DEBT SUSTAINABILITY DEBT SERVICE BURDEN DEBT COMPOSITION BOND ISSUE FISCAL TRENDS COUNTERCYCLICAL POLICY
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/370721580415352349/Borrow-with-Sorrow-The-Changing-Risk-Profile-of-Sub-Saharan-Africas-Debt http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33293

id	okr-10986-33293
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-332932022-09-20T00:12:31Z Borrow with Sorrow? The Changing Risk Profile of Sub-Saharan Africa's Debt Calderon, Cesar Zeufack, Albert G. DEBT SUSTAINABILITY DEBT SERVICE BURDEN DEBT COMPOSITION BOND ISSUE FISCAL TRENDS COUNTERCYCLICAL POLICY In the post-global financial crisis period, the financing of countercyclical policies led not only to a reduction in the fiscal surpluses across Sub-Saharan African countries, but also an increase in their levels of indebtedness. Although public debt for the region in 2018 was still below that of the pre-debt forgiveness period, the risk profile of public debt has sharply increased. The share of concessional public debt has been declining while that owed to private creditors and non–Paris Club bilateral creditors has been rising. The resulting reconfiguration of public debt has led to increased debt service in the region. Hence, the higher risk profile of debt and rising payments might lower the threshold for debt distress in the region. Addressing public debt vulnerabilities requires the buildup of external and fiscal buffers by conducting prudent fiscal policies and implementing growth-enhancing reforms, and the strengthening of debt management practices. However, the policy toolkit can be enlarged by gradually moving from debt management to balance-sheet management of the public sector, and policies to boost the efficiency of public investment. 2020-02-06T16:44:52Z 2020-02-06T16:44:52Z 2020-01 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/370721580415352349/Borrow-with-Sorrow-The-Changing-Risk-Profile-of-Sub-Saharan-Africas-Debt http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33293 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9137 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	DEBT SUSTAINABILITY DEBT SERVICE BURDEN DEBT COMPOSITION BOND ISSUE FISCAL TRENDS COUNTERCYCLICAL POLICY
spellingShingle	DEBT SUSTAINABILITY DEBT SERVICE BURDEN DEBT COMPOSITION BOND ISSUE FISCAL TRENDS COUNTERCYCLICAL POLICY Calderon, Cesar Zeufack, Albert G. Borrow with Sorrow? The Changing Risk Profile of Sub-Saharan Africa's Debt
geographic_facet	Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9137
description	In the post-global financial crisis period, the financing of countercyclical policies led not only to a reduction in the fiscal surpluses across Sub-Saharan African countries, but also an increase in their levels of indebtedness. Although public debt for the region in 2018 was still below that of the pre-debt forgiveness period, the risk profile of public debt has sharply increased. The share of concessional public debt has been declining while that owed to private creditors and non–Paris Club bilateral creditors has been rising. The resulting reconfiguration of public debt has led to increased debt service in the region. Hence, the higher risk profile of debt and rising payments might lower the threshold for debt distress in the region. Addressing public debt vulnerabilities requires the buildup of external and fiscal buffers by conducting prudent fiscal policies and implementing growth-enhancing reforms, and the strengthening of debt management practices. However, the policy toolkit can be enlarged by gradually moving from debt management to balance-sheet management of the public sector, and policies to boost the efficiency of public investment.
format	Working Paper
author	Calderon, Cesar Zeufack, Albert G.
author_facet	Calderon, Cesar Zeufack, Albert G.
author_sort	Calderon, Cesar
title	Borrow with Sorrow? The Changing Risk Profile of Sub-Saharan Africa's Debt
title_short	Borrow with Sorrow? The Changing Risk Profile of Sub-Saharan Africa's Debt
title_full	Borrow with Sorrow? The Changing Risk Profile of Sub-Saharan Africa's Debt
title_fullStr	Borrow with Sorrow? The Changing Risk Profile of Sub-Saharan Africa's Debt
title_full_unstemmed	Borrow with Sorrow? The Changing Risk Profile of Sub-Saharan Africa's Debt
title_sort	borrow with sorrow? the changing risk profile of sub-saharan africa's debt
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2020
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/370721580415352349/Borrow-with-Sorrow-The-Changing-Risk-Profile-of-Sub-Saharan-Africas-Debt http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33293
_version_	1764478414473920512

Borrow with Sorrow? The Changing Risk Profile of Sub-Saharan Africa's Debt

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