A Pandemic of Debt
Hammered by tightening financial conditions and steep currency depreciations, dozens of developing countries are either teetering on the edge of a debt crisis or have already defaulted. The international community must respond by providing immediate relief, creating new restructuring mechanisms, and introducing ambitious reforms.
BOGOTÁ – The COVID-19 pandemic increased low- and middle-income countries’ debt levels to a 50-year high. With soaring inflation, rising interest rates, and the strengthening US dollar compounding their debt-service burdens, a crisis is now unfolding in several countries of the developing world.