Since 2010, a debt surge unprecedented in its size, speed and reach has taken place in developing countries, with total debt of Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) reaching a record high of 205% points of GDP in 2020. The mounting debt crisis has been further compounded by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and of the ongoing Russia Ukraine war. Developing countries vulnerable to climate change are nonetheless also facing issues of underinvestment in climate action caused by a lack of fiscal space, finding themselves in a double crisis that other than debt also concerns the environment. Thus far, the international community has been unable to provide a concerted debt relief effort able to effectively address these challenges, while the past demonstrates that these measures have a tendency to be late. It is in this context that debt swaps have found renewed interest as a tool able to simultaneously address both issues. The financial instrument finds its roots in the context of the first debt wave of the 1970s, and has since then evolved in different ways and taken on various structures. Through their capacity to reallocate funds originally designated for debt servicing towards mutually agreed investments, debt swaps represent a potentially unique means to support developing countries face the current debt and environmental crises. This study has thus the aim of analysing debt swaps through an examination of their functioning, the actors involved, and their potentialities, with the ultimate goal of gaining a comprehensive understanding of the relevancy of the financial instrument in the current context and of identifying avenues for its further improvement by drawing lessons from past experiences.
Dal 2010 si è verificato un aumento del debito senza precedenti in dimensioni, velocità e portata nei paesi in via di sviluppo, con un debito totale delle economie emergenti e in via di sviluppo che ha raggiunto un massimo storico del 205% del PIL nel 2020. La crescente crisi del debito è stata ulteriormente aggravata dagli effetti della pandemia di Covid-19 e dalla guerra in corso tra Russia e Ucraina. I paesi in via di sviluppo vulnerabili ai cambiamenti climatici si trovano comunque ad affrontare problemi di mancanza di investimenti nell'azione climatica dovuti al ristretto spazio fiscale, trovandosi in una doppia crisi che riguarda non solo il debito, ma anche l'ambiente. Finora, la comunità internazionale non è stata in grado di fornire uno sforzo concertato di alleggerimento del debito in grado di affrontare efficacemente queste sfide, mentre il passato dimostra che tali misure tendono ad essere tardive. È in questo contesto che i debt swap (conversione del debito) hanno suscitato un rinnovato interesse come strumento in grado di affrontare contemporaneamente entrambe le questioni. Questo strumento finanziario trova le sue radici nel contesto della prima ondata di debito degli anni '70 e si è da allora evoluto in modi diversi assumendo varie strutture. Attraverso la loro capacità di ridirezionare i fondi originariamente destinati al servizio del debito verso investimenti concordati reciprocamente, i debt swap rappresentano un mezzo potenzialmente unico per sostenere i paesi in via di sviluppo nell'affrontare le attuali crisi del debito e ambientali. Lo scopo di questo studio è quindi analizzare i debt swap attraverso un esame del loro funzionamento, degli attori coinvolti e delle loro potenzialità, con l'obiettivo finale di ottenere una comprensione completa della rilevanza dello strumento finanziario nel contesto attuale e di individuare vie per il suo ulteriore miglioramento, attingendo lezioni dalle esperienze passate.
Debt Swaps: Uno Strumento Per Aiutare I Paesi In Via Di Sviluppo?
CAPASSO, ESTHER
2022/2023
Abstract
Since 2010, a debt surge unprecedented in its size, speed and reach has taken place in developing countries, with total debt of Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) reaching a record high of 205% points of GDP in 2020. The mounting debt crisis has been further compounded by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and of the ongoing Russia Ukraine war. Developing countries vulnerable to climate change are nonetheless also facing issues of underinvestment in climate action caused by a lack of fiscal space, finding themselves in a double crisis that other than debt also concerns the environment. Thus far, the international community has been unable to provide a concerted debt relief effort able to effectively address these challenges, while the past demonstrates that these measures have a tendency to be late. It is in this context that debt swaps have found renewed interest as a tool able to simultaneously address both issues. The financial instrument finds its roots in the context of the first debt wave of the 1970s, and has since then evolved in different ways and taken on various structures. Through their capacity to reallocate funds originally designated for debt servicing towards mutually agreed investments, debt swaps represent a potentially unique means to support developing countries face the current debt and environmental crises. This study has thus the aim of analysing debt swaps through an examination of their functioning, the actors involved, and their potentialities, with the ultimate goal of gaining a comprehensive understanding of the relevancy of the financial instrument in the current context and of identifying avenues for its further improvement by drawing lessons from past experiences.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/3344