Debt Vulnerabilities and Development Needs in Low-Income Countries

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Debt Vulnerabilities and Development Needs in Low-Income Countries

Friday, Apr 12, 2019 | 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM

Location: Meeting Halls A&B, HQ1-3-430A&B

Maps

Seminar Report

Moderator: Nancy Kacungira, Presenter, BBC Africa

Opening Remarks:

Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director, IMF

Panelists:

Mahamat Abakar Allali, Minister of Finance and Budget, Chad

Daniel Hanna, Global Head of Public Sector and Development Organizations, Standard Chartered Bank

Margaret Mwanakatwe, Minister of Finance, Zambia

Abdur Rout Talukder, Finance Secretary, Bangladesh

Jakob von Weizsäcker, Chief Economist, Ministry of Finance, Germany

Rapid increases in public debt have emerged recently in low-income countries while development needs remain large. A panel of discussants from both public and private sectors discussed various drivers of debts and how to find the right balance between borrowing for development needs and containing debt vulnerability.

Key Points:

Debt vulnerabilities and development needs. Furusawa noted that all stakeholders - national authorities, bilateral and multilateral partners, and private creditors - have a role to play in containing debt vulnerabilities while meeting development needs. Mwanakatwe noted that although Zambia is a middle-income country, it is still under high risk of debt distress. The debt trend is concerning, but there may be still room for debt to finance investment in health and education. Talukder stated that the Bangladesh’s way to balance these two targets is to invest in physical infrastructure and human capital development, and make sure that fiscal deficit is kept below five percent of GDP. Allali noted the importance of mobilizing local resources, extending tax base, and using new technologies for revenue collection to minimize human intervention and leakages.

· Leveraging private financing for development needs. von Weizsäcker stated that low-income countries could usefully benefit from private sector financing to meet development needs. Hanna noted the long-term benefits from sharing risks with private sector through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to mobilize resources. Talukder noted that it is important to make sure that public funding does not crowd out private investment. Allali noted that it would be necessary to find a way of increasingly leverage the private sector and that the Fund programs tended to be unnecessarily restrictive in this regard.

· Importance of debt Transparency. Mwanakatwe noted that debt transparency is critical and it can make potential investors more confident. Hanna argued that private investors may be more risk averse. Keeping information transparency and establishing transparency lending protocols can help diverse funding sources for countries. von Weizsäcker emphasized that it is important to share information with investors and get more new lenders into the Paris Club. Responsible lending and responsible borrowing are two sides of the same coin.

Quotes:

“If we manage to rethink the way we view Africa and find a way to help it, Africa will surprise everyone.” (Translated from French) Mahamat Abakar Allali,

“The debt trend is concerning and might be contagious, but we need some more optimism. Good debt is when you invest in health, education and attract private investment.” Margaret Mwanakatwe

“We must not neglect the role that private sector investment can play as well.” Jakob von Weizsäcker

“Low-income countries would need around $350bn each year to achieves SDGs…The private sector has to play a role to effectively fill up this gap…for the private sector, it is about how to channel the money to go where it matters the most.” Daniel Hann

Contributor: Bo Zhao

Rapid increases in public debt have emerged recently in low-income countries while development needs remain large. The drivers of rising debt vary greatly across countries: for some, it has been driven by scaling-up of public investment; for others, adverse commodity price shocks are to blame, while a third group of countries have followed still imprudent fiscal policies. Flat—if not falling—official development assistance and an increasingly diverse group of multilateral, bilateral, and private lenders have accompanied the debt escalation. This seminar panel will discuss (1) various debt drivers across countries; (2) financing needs for development; and (3) how national authorities, multilateral and bilateral partners, and private creditors can strike the right balance between development spending and containing debt vulnerability.

Join the conversation: #Development4All

Opening Remarks

Mitsuhiro Furusawa
Deputy Managing Director, IMF

Mitsuhiro Furusawa was appointed Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund on March 2, 2015. Previously, Mr. Furusawa was Special Advisor to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Finance in Japan. Mr. Furusawa served as Executive Director for Japan at the International Monetary Fund from 2010 to 2012. He has served as Vice Minister for International Affairs at the Finance Ministry, and held various diplomatic positions. Mr. Furusawa studied Law at the University of Tokyo, and is also a graduate of France's Ecole Nationale d'Administration.

Moderator

Nancy Kacungira
Presenter, BBC Africa

Ms. Nancy Kacungira is the host of “In Business Africa” on BBC World News, a weekly program looking at the trends shaping Africa’s economic future. A multi-award-winning journalist from Uganda, Nancy has presented on some of the world’s biggest platforms including the World Economic Forum, TEDx, and a Presidential Debate as a speaker and moderator. Previously an entrepreneur, Nancy cofounded the Blu Flamingo digital media agency, which now operates in four African countries. She has worked as a radio and television presenter in East Africa for more than 10 years.

Panelists

Mahamat Abakar Allali
Minister of Finance and Budget, Chad

Mr. Mahamat Abakar Allali was appointed Minister of Finance and Budget of Chadin September 2018. Prior to that, he was Secretary of State for Finance and Budget and held several positions in the public sector such as Director of Investment, Heritage, and Management in Yaoundé Central Services and Head of Credit and Monetary Market Department in Chad. He is a former senior BEAC official and is the author of several publications on financing the economy in the CEMAC region and in Chad in particular, especially of small and medium-sized enterprises and industries. Mr. Allali holds a graduate diploma (DESS) in Financial Management and Taxation from the University of Poitiers (France).

Daniel Hanna
Global Head of Public Sector and Development Organizations, Standard Chartered Bank

Mr. Daniel Hanna has nearly two decades of banking experience in emerging market economies providing advice to governments and state-owned enterprises development finance institutions. Daniel has helped emerging and frontier market sovereigns raise billions of dollars for infrastructure and social development. He, and his team, have led several innovative financing transactions, particularly in the use of “blended finance” and working with development finance institutions to mobilize more than $5 billion in commercial capital toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries. Daniel and his team have also supported more than 2.5 million of the most vulnerable households through microfinance. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from London Business School, a Certificat d’Etudes Européen from Science Po Strasbourg, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Politics from Exeter University.

Margaret Mwanakatwe
Minister of Finance, Zambia

Ms. Margaret Mwanakatwe has served as Zambia’s Minister of Finance since February 2018. Before this appointment, she was Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry. She has also been a Member of Parliament of the Lusaka Central Parliamentary seat since the 2016 general elections. Ms. Mwanakatwe was the Managing Director of Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited until 2009. Prior to that she was the Managing Director of Barclays Bank of Zambia Limited. After Barclays Ghana she joined United Bank for Africa as the Regional CEO for the East and Southern Africa region. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is a Chartered Accountant by Profession.

Abdur Rout Talukder
Finance Secretary, Bangladesh

Mr. Abdur Rouf Talukder has been the Secretary of Finance Division, Ministry of Finance since July 17, 2018. He also serves as Director of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Bangladesh. He was instrumental in implementing the Medium-Term Budget Framework during 2005–06 and the new Budget and Accounting Classification System during 2017–18. He was key in drafting the 2009 Public Money and Budget Management Act. He also contributed to the introduction of payroll automation for government employees and electronic funds transfer for pensioners. Previously, Mr. Talukder worked in Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Food, and Ministry of Information. He also worked in Bangladesh High Commission, Malaysia as First Secretary. Mr. Talukder holds a master’s degree in Development Management from the University of Birmingham, UK and an MBA from the Institute of Business Administration of the University of Dhaka.

Jakob von Weizsäcker
Chief Economist, Ministry of Finance, Germany

Mr. Jakob von Weizsäcker was appointed Chief Economist and Director General for Economic and Fiscal Policy and Global Economy at the German Federal Ministry of Finance in early 2019. From 2014 to 2019, he served as Member of the European Parliament for Thuringia in Germany, both as a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Parliament's Delegation for the Relations with India. Previously, he worked—among others—at the Ministry for Economic Affairs of Thuringia, the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, the World Bank, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs. He completed his university studies in France at what is today known as the Paris School of Economics, graduating with a master’s degree in Physics and a diploma of advanced studies in Economics.

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