Publication: African Debt since HIPC: How Clean is the Slate?
Loading...
Published
2015-03
ISSN
Date
2015-08-13
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The paper finds a moderate evolution in public debt ratios since debt relief among heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) and multilateral debt relief initiative (MDRI) recipient countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with certain exceptions. For eight countries the authors find rapid rates of debt accumulation, which can return them to pre-HIPC debt levels in only a few years. Short-term domestic debt has, despite early fears, in general not filled the borrowing space created by debt relief. However, external debt accumulation on commercial terms in some cases presages repayment spikes, which may combine with short-term domestic obligations to amplify refinancing risk and cause abrupt reductions in public spending, with damaging consequences for development. Finally, despite reduced debt, African economies continue to be commodity dependent and prone to shocks. As global interest rates and commodity prices revert to historically more customary levels, these countries should remain prudent: avoid tax-base erosion, prevent large recurrent spending hikes, and invest wisely in growth, by executing projects effectively to enhance infrastructure. These fiscal fundamentals will be as important for debt sustainability as how much is borrowed and on which terms.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Merotto, Dino; Stucka, Tihomir; Thomas, Mark Roland. 2015. African Debt since HIPC: How Clean is the Slate?. MFM Global Practice discussion paper,no. 2;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22399 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Crisis Preparedness and Debt Management in Low Income Countries : Strengthening Institutions and Policy Frameworks(2010-07-01)The magnitude of the public liabilities incurred as a result of the unprecedented government action in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008-2009, and the consequences of exiting from the projected high debt scenario, have become a major source of concern about a future sovereign debt crisis. As Low-Income Countries (LICs) face unique challenges in debt management (DeM) due to their more limited financing sources and higher capacity constraints, their ability to successfully manage their public debt burdens effectively through a crisis of this magnitude is far from assured. Therefore, the challenges of the last two years will require a re-evaluation of existing DeM strategies in LICs, focusing on the identification of institutional weaknesses and the assessment and mitigation of potential risk. It is in this context that this paper examines the application of two global public goods in LICs: the Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) and the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) tools. The results of the application of these tools from 2007-2009 provide valuable information to policymakers and other stakeholders on the development of sound public DeM practices and analytical capacity, with the goal of strengthening the public balance sheet and reducing vulnerability to financial crises.Publication Argentina - Economic Memorandum for the Province of Buenos Aires : Key Public Policy Issues(Washington, DC, 2010-06-16)The Province of Buenos Aires has historically been the most important of all 23 Argentine provinces. Following Argentina's independence in 1816 and the development of the export-oriented agricultural sector, the province's control of the nation's biggest ports and waterways turned it into a major political and economic power. Rapid population growth, primarily driven by immigration, stimulated consumption, which led to the rise of manufacturing industries in and around the main urban centers in the province. The construction of the railway, which by 1914 had reached 35,000 km in length, gave Buenos Aires an additional advantage: it linked the agricultural interior of the country to the ports located in Buenos Aires, La Plata, and Bahia Blanca (as well as to Rosario in Santa Fe Province). Given the central role the Province of Buenos Aires plays in Argentina's economy, ensuring its sustained growth and competitiveness is a key national priority. The Province accounts for 35 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), more than half of the country's manufacturing industry and 37 percent of its exports. Its private sector is the largest in the country, with every third Argentine company located in the province. The Province's schools and universities turn out a large share of Argentina's labor force, and its roads and ports transport the bulk of the country's domestic goods and exports to their respective markets. Argentina's economic success is therefore closely linked to that of the Province of Buenos Aires. This chapter provides a general background of the province's economic profile, growth record and social conditions.Publication Debt Management Performance Assessment : Kazakhstan(Washington, DC, 2011-05)A World Bank mission visited Kazakhstan from July 15-23, 2010, to undertake a comprehensive assessment of debt management operations using the Debt Management Performance Assessment tool (DeMPA). The DeMPA report provides an overview of strengths and weaknesses in government debt management in Kazakhstan, as evaluated at end-July, 2010. The scores demonstrate that areas of strength clearly outnumber areas where policies and practices fall short of minimum standards for effective debt management. Areas of strength include the legal framework, governance, and operational risk management, coordination with fiscal and monetary policies, as well as debt recording and reporting. Such strengths are impressive, taking into account the relatively low debt level and modest recourse to both domestic and external borrowing. However, many areas displaying relatively low scores would benefit from attention and reform. This need is most pressing in the context of developing a medium-term debt management strategy, which would involve outlining the preferred composition of debt based on cost-risk analyses, and would provide guidance not only for the government s borrowing but also for market development.Publication Debt Relief and Beyond : Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead(World Bank, 2009)Heavily indebted low-income countries benefited from significant debt relief over the past decade. Under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI), assistance of about $117 billion in nominal terms had been committed to 35 HIPC as of end-April 2009. This debt relief represents about half of the 2007 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of these countries, whose debt burden is expected to drop by more than 80 percent once full debt relief is granted. As a result of relief already provided, debt-service payments have plummeted and expenditures on pro-poor growth programs increased. The book is divided into four parts. Part one examines the design of debt-relief initiatives and provides evidence of its effect on education, health, and economic growth. Part two describes the risks and opportunities developing countries face following debt relief. It identifies how they can safeguard debt sustainability; describes the role of sovereign risk for private sector access to capital; and draws lessons from the experience of market-access countries on the links between sovereign debt and development. Part three examines the concept and various policy proposals of dealing with 'odious' debt. Part four looks at debt management, debt restructuring, and the interplay between debt and fiscal policies. It provides guidance on debut sovereign bond issues; examines the issuance and management of sub-national debt; describes the challenges of crafting fiscal policy and managing debt and oil revenues in a (temporarily) oil-rich country (the Republic of Congo); and draws lessons from Chile's experiences using debt swaps in the 1980s.Publication Analysis and Options for Namibia's Medium-Term Debt Strategy(Washington, DC, 2013-06)Since gaining its independence 23 years ago, Namibia has established an enviable track record of political stability, prudent macroeconomic policies, moderate growth, poverty reduction, and natural resource conservation. The country has achieved these gains while facing constraints imposed by geography, legacies of apartheid and colonialism, and the challenges of constructing a national government. Daunting challenges remain, however. Namibia suffers from chronic high unemployment, the ravages of HIV/AIDS, and one of the world most skewed distributions of income. The structure of the economy has remained fundamentally unchanged since Independence: minerals and metals make up the majority of exports; the public sector remains the largest employer; and there has been little investment in labor-intensive manufacturing, which in many countries has absorbed low-skilled labor exiting traditional agriculture. This report uses the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) framework developed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to analyze options facing the GRN as it prepares the new Sovereign Debt Management Strategy (SDMS). This framework emphasizes the explicit analysis of relative costs and risks in a debt management strategy, the linkages between the debt strategy and other macroeconomic policies, and the strategy's consistency with debt sustainability. The report opens with a review of the GRN's current debt management strategy, the sources of financing available to the government, and the macroeconomic environment. The report then applies the MTDS analytical tool to analyze costs and risks of alternative debt management strategies that were developed by MOF participants in the November 2012 capacity-building exercise. It also examines domestic debt market development and contingent liabilities arising from government guarantees, two issues of special concern to the GRN. Finally, it discusses institutional arrangements and implementation issues.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication The Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change : Methodology Report(Washington, DC, 2008-12)The proposed methodology begins with a consistent downscaling of projected climatic changes from a multiplicity of General Circulation to local levels. Subsets of the suite of downscaled climatic factors are then to be used to estimate the vector of impacts on key economic sectors of each country, using sector-specific impact assessment models. Based on this information, alternative government adaptation projects will be specified and optimally chosen subject to a government budget constraint. Thereafter, direct impacts of climate change will serve as inputs into a macroeconomic framework to examine the indirect inter-sectoral impacts of climate change as well as adaption strategies. Finally, at each step the analysis will be complemented with perspectives and insights of people whose livelihoods are being or will be affected by changes in climate. Impacts of the climate change and the benefits of specific adaptation measures will be examined in the context of sub-populations defined by livelihood profiles. Local-level analysis of past and present autonomous adaptation measures for a range of groups stratified by sets of livelihood profiles will be conducted using participatory rural appraisal based primary fieldwork in addition to holding participatory workshops and consultations.Publication The Epidemiological Impact of an HIV Vaccine on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Southern India(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-02)The potential epidemiological impact of preventive HIV vaccines on the HIV epidemic in Southern India is examined using a mathematical deterministic dynamic compartmental model. Various assumptions about the degree of protection offered by such a vaccine, the extent of immunological response of those vaccinated, and the duration of protection afforded are explored. Alternative targeting strategies for HIV vaccination are simulated and compared with the impact of conventional prevention interventions in high-risk groups and the general population. The impact of disinhibition (increased risk behavior due to the presence of a vaccine) is also considered. Vaccines that convey a high degree of protection in a share of or all of those immunized and that convey life-long immunity are the most effective in curbing the HIV epidemic. Vaccines that convey less than complete protection may also have substantial public health impact, but disinhibition can easily undo their effects and they should be used combined with conventional prevention efforts. Conventional interventions that target commercial sex workers and their clients to increase condom use can also be highly effective and can be implemented immediately, before the arrival of vaccines.Publication The Impact of Monetary Policy on Financial Markets in Small Open Economies(Elsevier, 2015-06)This paper estimates the impact of monetary policy on exchange rates and stock prices of eight small open economies: Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. On average across these countries in the full sample, a one percentage point surprise rise in official interest rates leads to a 1% appreciation of the exchange rate and a 0.5–1% fall in stock prices, with somewhat stronger effects in OECD countries than non-OECD countries (though differences are sometimes not significant). We find little robust evidence of a change in the effect of monetary policy surprises during the recent financial crisis.Publication Commodity Markets Outlook, April 2023: Lower Prices, Little Relief(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-04-27)Global commodity prices fell 14 percent in the first quarter of 2023, and by the end of March, they were roughly 30 percent below their June 2022 peak. The unwinding of prices reflects a combination of slowing economic activity, favorable winter weather, and a global reallocation of commodity trade flows. Commodity prices are expected to fall by 21 percent this year and remain mostly stable in 2024, although the outlook is subject to multiple risks in a highly uncertain environment. These risks include intensification of geopolitical tensions, the strength of demand from China following its post-COVID reopening, likely energy supply disruptions, and weather conditions, including the emerging El Niño. A Special Focus section evaluates the performance of several approaches used to forecast prices of seven industrial commodities. It finds that futures prices, which are widely used for price forecasts, often lead to large forecast errors. Time-series models based on multiple independent variables tend to outperform other model-based approaches as well as futures prices. Machine-learning techniques yield better forecasts than some of the traditional approaches. The analysis suggests that augmenting model-based forecasting approaches—by incorporating the dynamics of commodity prices over time and controlling for other economic factors—enhances forecast accuracy.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.