According to the International Monetary Fund, global debt increased from 229% of GDP in 2019 to 237% at the end of 2023 due to the pandemic, energy and food price spikes, and interest rates hikes by central banks in advanced countries. In Africa, the debt burden has become particularly severe. Half of African nations are now spending more on interest payments alone than on their public health budgets. This situation is unsustainable and disproportionally affects poorer countries.

In this episode of DebtTalks, Paola Subacchi and Jean-Pierre Landau discuss the constraints imposed by rising debt levels and the policy trade-offs among pressing needs such as poverty relief and climate action.

Hosts & Guests:
- Paola Subacchi is Professor of Political Economy, University of Bologna, and the Incoming Chair in Sovereign Debt and Finance at Sciences Po. Previously she was at Queen Mary University of London, where she contributed to set up the Queen Mary Global Policy Institute, and at Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs) where she led the international economics research department.
- Jean-Pierre Landau, professor at Sciences Po, is former Deputy Governor of Banque de France.

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Welcome to DebtTalks, the podcast of SciencesPo Chair in Sovereign Debt and Finance, hosted by Paola Subacchi. In this episode Paola is joined by Sean Hagan to discuss the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the lender of last resort and as a “trigger” for debt restructuring.

Guest :
Sean Hagan, professor at Sciences Po and Georgetown Law, is former general counsel for the International Monetary Fund, non resident fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and advisor to Rothschild & Co.

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How does the debt market fare over a very long period? Paola Subacchi is joined by Josefin Meyer to look at sovereign bonds over 200 years that stretch after the battle of Waterloo (1815) and 2016. Research shows that over this period real returns averaged more than 6 per cent annually – after taking into account wars, financial crises and default episodes.

Guest: Josefin Meyer is Head of International Macroeconomics Research Group of the Macroeconomics Department at Deutsches Institut Für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin) and Research Fellow at Kiel Institute for The World Economy.

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