Can This Time Be Different? Policy Options in Times of Rising Debt

Episodes of debt accumulation have been a recurrent feature of the global economy over the past fifty years. Since 2010, emerging and developing economies have experienced another wave of historically large and rapid debt accumulation. Similar past...

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Main Authors: Kose, M. Ayhan, Nagle, Peter S.O, Ohnsorge, Franziska L., Sugawara, Naotaka
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/916221583844322496/Can-This-Time-Be-Different-Policy-Options-in-Times-of-Rising-Debt
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33427
id okr-10986-33427
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-334272022-09-20T00:13:02Z Can This Time Be Different? Policy Options in Times of Rising Debt Kose, M. Ayhan Nagle, Peter S.O Ohnsorge, Franziska L. Sugawara, Naotaka FINANCIAL CRISIS CURRENCY CRISIS DEBT CRISIS DEBT SUSTAINABILITY PUBLIC DEBT PRIVATE DEBT EXTERNAL DEBT DEBT WAVE EMERGING MARKET ECONOMIES PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FISCAL POLICY MONETARY POLICY Episodes of debt accumulation have been a recurrent feature of the global economy over the past fifty years. Since 2010, emerging and developing economies have experienced another wave of historically large and rapid debt accumulation. Similar past debt buildups have often ended in widespread financial crises in these economies. This paper examines the factors that are likely to determine the outcome of the most recent debt wave, and considers policy options to help reduce the likelihood that it ends again in widespread crises. It reports two main results. First, the rapid increase in debt has made emerging and developing economies more vulnerable to shifts in market sentiment, notwithstanding historically low global interest rates. Second, policy options are available to lower the likelihood of financial crises, and to help manage the adverse impacts of crises when they do occur. These include sound debt management, strong monetary and fiscal frameworks, and robust bank supervision and regulation. The post-crisis debt buildup has coincided with a period of subdued growth as well as the emergence of non-traditional creditors. As a result, policy priorities also need to ensure that debt is spent on productive purposes to improve growth prospects and that all debt-related transactions are transparently reported. 2020-03-12T15:54:03Z 2020-03-12T15:54:03Z 2020-03 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/916221583844322496/Can-This-Time-Be-Different-Policy-Options-in-Times-of-Rising-Debt http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33427 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9178 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
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic FINANCIAL CRISIS
CURRENCY CRISIS
DEBT CRISIS
DEBT SUSTAINABILITY
PUBLIC DEBT
PRIVATE DEBT
EXTERNAL DEBT
DEBT WAVE
EMERGING MARKET ECONOMIES
PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
FISCAL POLICY
MONETARY POLICY
spellingShingle FINANCIAL CRISIS
CURRENCY CRISIS
DEBT CRISIS
DEBT SUSTAINABILITY
PUBLIC DEBT
PRIVATE DEBT
EXTERNAL DEBT
DEBT WAVE
EMERGING MARKET ECONOMIES
PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
FISCAL POLICY
MONETARY POLICY
Kose, M. Ayhan
Nagle, Peter S.O
Ohnsorge, Franziska L.
Sugawara, Naotaka
Can This Time Be Different? Policy Options in Times of Rising Debt
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9178
description Episodes of debt accumulation have been a recurrent feature of the global economy over the past fifty years. Since 2010, emerging and developing economies have experienced another wave of historically large and rapid debt accumulation. Similar past debt buildups have often ended in widespread financial crises in these economies. This paper examines the factors that are likely to determine the outcome of the most recent debt wave, and considers policy options to help reduce the likelihood that it ends again in widespread crises. It reports two main results. First, the rapid increase in debt has made emerging and developing economies more vulnerable to shifts in market sentiment, notwithstanding historically low global interest rates. Second, policy options are available to lower the likelihood of financial crises, and to help manage the adverse impacts of crises when they do occur. These include sound debt management, strong monetary and fiscal frameworks, and robust bank supervision and regulation. The post-crisis debt buildup has coincided with a period of subdued growth as well as the emergence of non-traditional creditors. As a result, policy priorities also need to ensure that debt is spent on productive purposes to improve growth prospects and that all debt-related transactions are transparently reported.
format Working Paper
author Kose, M. Ayhan
Nagle, Peter S.O
Ohnsorge, Franziska L.
Sugawara, Naotaka
author_facet Kose, M. Ayhan
Nagle, Peter S.O
Ohnsorge, Franziska L.
Sugawara, Naotaka
author_sort Kose, M. Ayhan
title Can This Time Be Different? Policy Options in Times of Rising Debt
title_short Can This Time Be Different? Policy Options in Times of Rising Debt
title_full Can This Time Be Different? Policy Options in Times of Rising Debt
title_fullStr Can This Time Be Different? Policy Options in Times of Rising Debt
title_full_unstemmed Can This Time Be Different? Policy Options in Times of Rising Debt
title_sort can this time be different? policy options in times of rising debt
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2020
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/916221583844322496/Can-This-Time-Be-Different-Policy-Options-in-Times-of-Rising-Debt
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33427
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