The pace of globalization has slowed since the global financial crisis, raising concerns about widespread deglobalization and market fragmentation. We examine the effects of a deglobalization shock on bank lending, firm internal capital markets, and the real economy. Leveraging a unique dataset...

Twenty years after the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief initiative, debt levels in low-income countries are rising again, renewing sustainability concerns. The prevailing view suggests that China and other emerging lenders exploited the HIPC initiative to expand lending. Using...

The pace of globalization has slowed since the global financial crisis, raising concerns about widespread deglobalization and market fragmentation. We examine the effects of a deglobalization shock on bank lending, firm internal capital markets, and the real economy. Leveraging a unique dataset...

The World Bank Group considers itself a "Knowledge Bank." The Bank's knowledge work contributes to development outcomes both by informing clients in various policy and reform areas, and by informing staff and clients on the selection, design, and implementation of lending operations. This...

How do violent conflicts shape cross-border lending? Using data on syndicated loans by 14,021 creditors to firms in 179 countries (1989-2020), we document a dual effect: foreign banks reduce overall lending relative to domestic banks but significantly increase financing to military and dual-use...

This paper is the first comprehensive analysis of the secured lending practices of Chinese creditors in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). We present a new dataset and detailed case studies of collateralized public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) loans from Chinese state-owned...

I develop a dynamic macroeconomic model of a small open economy to identify two key vulnerabilities that prevent emerging markets from fully integrating into global markets: high financial integration costs and their low position in the international monetary hierarchy. These vulnerabilities...

This paper provides novel microlevel evidence that cross-border bank flows are an important means for households to access credit, not only in emerging markets but also in advanced economies. Using supervisory bank-level data alongside household credit and consumption data from Germany, we study...

The book explores the Fund's engagement in Europe in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, and especially after 2010. It explains how, why, and with what consequences the International Monetary Fund-along with the European Central Bank and the European Commission (together known as...

We study sovereign external debt crises over the past 200 years, with a focus on creditor losses, or "haircuts". Our sample covers 327 sovereign debt restructurings with external private creditors over 205 default spells since 1815. Creditor losses vary widely (from none to 100%), but the...

This paper challenges the prevailing view in the sovereign debt literature by arguing that sovereign debt markets, in many respects, behave similarly to other credit markets. These markets are hierarchical rather than flat, inherently hybrid in nature, blending elements of public order and...

This paper explores the catalytic impact of IMF lending to Low-Income Countries on Official Development Assistance (ODA) during 1990-2019. It disentangles the effect on the amounts of ODA on countries’ participation in IMF programs (“extensive margin”) and the size of the IMF-supported...

Using a database of emerging market fundamentals and bond index spreads across 56 frontier and emerging market countries rated below investment grade during the period 2002-22, we assess whether IMF arrangements can restore access to international capital markets (ICM) for countries in distress...

This paper provides novel micro-level evidence that cross-border bank flows are important for households' access to credit not only in emerging markets but also in advanced economies. These foreign bank flows can drive local credit credit booms that increase bank risk. We study how the influx of...

In 2021, the G20 committed to reallocate USD 100 billion of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) recent allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries. However, most of these donations have been made to the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth...

Many developing countries are still grappling with the consequences of the pandemic and the associated high debt burdens while facing huge financing needs, inter alia related to climate change. In response, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights...

The International Debt Report (IDR) is a longstanding annual publication of the World Bank featuring external debt statistics and analysis for the 122 countries that report to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System. IDR 2023 is the 50th annual edition and includes (1) analyses of external debt...

According to the IMF, the current public debt makes up nearly 40 percent of the global debt, marking the highest share since the mid-1960s. Despite the vast research on alarming levels of sovereign default, the literature remains inconclusive. This paper investigates macroeconomic, financial,...

This paper studies whether IMF programs and their size affect borrowing costs by comparing the coupon of bonds issued around an IMF arrangement. By comparing bonds issued immediately before the inset of the program with bonds issued immediately after the program, we show that, on average, the...

The Common Framework for Sovereign Debt Restructuring provides a process for easing debt burdens on low-income countries but has operated too slowly for the four countries that have so far sought relief under it. Official bilateral creditors that are not members of the Paris Club are often...

Purpose: Existing research on uncertainty and bank lending has focused entirely on aggregate uncertainty (i.e., economic policy uncertainty) and its subcomponents, but not considering other uncertainty measures from the specif-ic perspective of financial markets, especially the banking sector....

Over the past 20 years, China has granted a conspicuous amount of loans to African countries. New loan data show that compared to Western multilateral loans, Chinese loans have relatively high interest rates and shorter maturities, tend to be highly collateralized, and are volatile over time....

The G20 had made enhancing cross-border payments a priority. Faster, cheaper, more transparent and more inclusive cross-border payment services have the potential to be transformative for citizens and economies across the world. The Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments, launched in 2020,...