On 3 July 2025, UNU-WIDER, in collaboration with the Boston University Global Development Policy Center and the Chair of the International Committee of Experts for the FFD4 process, will co-host "Rethinking Debt Sustainability to Kickstart Growth", a side event of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4).
Recent global shocks have exposed significant vulnerabilities in the international financial architecture (IFA), reinforcing the perception that it inadequately supports the most vulnerable communities and fails to meet the needs of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
LMICs are currently facing insurmountable debt levels, with 3.3 billion people living in countries that spend more on interest payments than on education or health. In the past 5 years, several LMICs defaulted on their external debt such as Zambia in 2020, Ghana and Sri Lanka in 2022, and Ethiopia in 2023, leading them to go through lengthy and painful debt restructuring processes.
This side event will unpack the matter of debt sustainability. It will explore the impact of debt sustainability analyses by international financial institutions on how LMICs need to tackle not only their debt burden but also their economic growth and sustainable development.
The side event is grounded in the main idea of the UNU-WIDER Statement on the reform of the International Financial Architecture, which calls for a rethinking of debt sustainability and advocates for long-term, low-cost financing to LMICs to drive much needed growth. The event will feature a panel of experts from various sectors who will discuss lessons learned from past debt restructuring processes and policy recommendations on how to overcome debt burden and use investment borrowing to drive growth.
For updated event information, please see the event listing on the UNU-WIDER website.
Programme
Opening remarks
- H.E Chola Milambo — Permanent Representative of Zambia to the UN
Panel discussion
- Nandalal Weerasinghe — Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (tbc)
- José Antonio Ocampo — Chair of the International Commission of Experts on Financing for Development
- Kevin Gallagher — Director, Global Development Policy Centre and Lead Expert on Multilateral Development Bank Reform to the G20 Brazilian Presidency
- Attiya Waris — Professor, University of Nairobi and UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights
- Mahmoud Mohieldin — UN Special Envoy on Financing the 2023 Sustainable Development Agenda and co-chair of the UN High-Level Expert Group on Debt (tbc)
- Rose Ngugi — Chair, Southern Voice
Closing remarks
- Kunal Sen — Director, UNU-WIDER
