On borrowed time: the sovereign debt crisis in the Global South

Think Change · Mar 30, 2023 · 32m

In just over a week’s time, the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF will see the first formal session for a Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable.

The problem of debt, and debt sustainability, has become one of the most urgent issues facing many low and middle-income countries around the world. The IMF estimates currently 36 low-income countries are at high risk of, or are currently in, debt distress, with the highest proportion of these in the African continent.

Prior to the pandemic, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were already facing a high risk of debt distress. This has been…