Break the taboos propping up unsustainable debt, pleads a former central banker
Murtaza Syed on overcoming fear of restructuring, cajoling creditors and encouraging the IMF to be candid
A YEAR AGO, in an article for The Economist, I cautioned that Pakistan’s policymakers and the IMF were flirting with disaster by pretending that the country’s public debt was sustainable. It was among 70 countries facing debt distress. A year on, only Ethiopia has defaulted and Sri Lanka is restructuring its debt, while Pakistan is on the cusp of a record 24th IMF programme. But this veneer of stability is no cause for celebration.
From the August 31st 2024 edition
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Europe must play to win—not just play nice—in a new space race, argues ESA’s boss
Josef Aschbacher, the European Space Agency’s director-general, says keeping up is not enough
The framework that ended Lebanon’s war in 2006 could help end this one too, says Tarek Mitri
Lebanon’s former foreign minister says any Israeli plan to reshape the country is a recipe for more chaos
Lebanon needs a new army in the south, says Yair Lapid
Israel’s opposition leader sees a way to turn war into a much-needed reset for the country
Philippe Lazzarini says the blows to humanitarian law in Gaza harm us all
The head of UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinians, warns the world not to look away
Ernesto Zedillo says AMLO has left Mexico on the verge of authoritarianism
The former president exhorts Claudia Sheinbaum to opt for democracy
COP29 is greenwashing a dictatorship, writes Azerbaijan’s main opposition leader
Ali Karimli on the hypocrisy of holding the climate conference in a petrostate where dissent is silenced