The Fiscal and Financial Risks of a High-Debt, Slow-Growth World

Inflation-adjusted interest rates are well above post global financial crisis lows, while medium-term growth remains weak. Persistently higher interest rates raise the cost of servicing debt, adding to fiscal pressures and posing risks to financial stability. Decisive and credible fiscal action that gradually brings global debt levels to more sustainable levels can help mitigate these…

Green debt swaps in India-Sri Lanka relations

Source Image: Getty In 2022, low- and middle-income countries spent a record US$443.5 billion on external public debt servicing, diverting funds from crucial sectors like health, education, and environmental conservation. Projections indicate a 10 percent increase in debt servicing expenses for all developing countries in 2023–24, with low-income countries facing nearly a 40 percent rise.…

New Jersey to forgive thousands of families’ medical debt. Here’s how to tell if you qualify.

$100 million in medical debt eliminated for N.J. residents $100 million in medical debt eliminated for N.J. residents 00:35 TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) — Thousands of New Jersey families can breathe a little easier after Gov. Phil Murphy announced his administration will eliminate some, if not all, of certain families’ medical debt. Murphy’s administration will relieve…

South Africa’s Transnet seeks debt relief from government

Transnet is saddled with 130 billion rand ($7.30 billion) in debt and has struggled to provide adequate freight rail and port services due to equipment shortages and maintenance backlogs after years of under-investment. Last December, South Africa’s government said it had handed Transnet a 47 billion rand guarantee facility to help the company meet “immediate liquidity matters such as…