If efforts to address record global public debt are to leave no stone
unturned, then weak disclosure laws warrant deep scrutiny. Hidden debt is
borrowing for which a government is liable, but which is not disclosed to
its citizens or to other creditors. And while this debt—by its nature—is
often kept off the official government balance-sheet, it is very real,
reaching $1 trillion globally by
some estimates.
While these undisclosed obligations are not large when compared to
global public debt topping
$91
trillion, they pose a growing threat to low-income countries, already
highly in debt with annual refinancing needs that have
tripled in recent years. The problem is even more pressing amid higher…
