Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 29th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview WG5: Public Finance and Public Financial Mngmt. (Physical) Author(s) András Póra Budapest University of Technology and Economics Budapest Hungary Valeria Szeplaki Title New Policy Ideas on Global Sovereign Debt Management File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter András Póra Abstract In connection with this year's COVID19 pandemic, the issue of sovereign debt moved to the forefront again, mainly, but not exclusively, among low-income countries. Since its introduction, more than seventy countries have already applied for the IMF's emergency facilities. Several states have gone bankrupt, including Argentina and, for the first time in its history, Lebanon. In this environment, the need to create a more integrated international system to handle sovereign defaults re-emerged. There is still no comprehensive global framework, institutional design, or methodology for, e.g., sovereign debt restructuring, although their demand is growing. The main problem is that the absence of the elements mentioned above increases the negotiations' length and uncertainty. Of course, it is incredibly challenging to resolve this issue because of the occasionally heavily politicized negotiations. The interests of developed and lower-income countries are often significantly different, not to mention the existing international organizations. Earlier proposals on this topic have re-emerged again this year, but many new ideas were also conveyed. The study assesses the current situation regarding the pandemic, then synthesizes the old and new suggestions to see more clearly in the "jungle" of proposals on sovereign debt management, focusing on restructuring.
