The International Monetary Fund’s Fiscal Affairs Department has released a new working paper, “Tread with Care: Benefits and Costs of Domestic Debt Restructurings” (WP/25/179), authored by Jean-Marc Atsebi and Jeta Menkulasi. Building on work by the IMF, the Bank for International Settlements, and leading academic research institutes, the study turns its lens on a subject often overshadowed by external debt crises: the restructuring of obligations governed by domestic law. By analyzing 142 emerging markets and developing economies between 1987 and 2021, the authors offer a comprehensive account of when domestic debt restructurings (DDRs) occur, what they achieve, and the steep trade-offs they impose on economies.