Media Coverage

Rating agencies don't treat the Global South fairly

In The Conversation Daniel Cash explains how credit rating agencies wield outsized power over the financial futures of developing nations.

The financial fate of developing countries often hangs on the assessments of a few powerful credit rating agencies. UNU-CPR senior fellow researcher Daniel Cash reveals how agencies not only influence borrowing costs but have created a "credit rating impasse" where countries avoid seeking much-needed debt relief for fear of devastating default ratings.

The article identifies two key reform approaches: building credit rating capability in the Global South and enhancing countries' capacity to engage with existing agencies. He argues that South Africa's assumption of the G20 Presidency presents a valuable opportunity to advance these reforms and champion a global credit rating capacity building initiative—shifting power dynamics in global finance from crisis response to structural empowerment.

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