Debt Sustainability Assessments and Their Role in the Global Financial Architecture: Practitioner’s Views on Issues and Solutions

Debt sustainability analyses (DSAs) are central to the global financial architecture and play a pivotal role in the international community’s cooperation towards debt crises response and prevention. This article summarizes research findings and recommendations the authors commissioned from practitioners on the IMF/World Bank debt sustainability analyses. The commissioned authors focused on how to improve DSAs along four dimensions. First, they explore how to align DSAs with the large spending needs of meeting sustainable development and climate goals. The second dimension is strengthening the responsiveness of DSAs to shocks in an environment where the size and frequency of such shocks is rising. The third dimension concerns the practice of DSAs, analyzing the frameworks in which the practice occurs and the consequences for debt negotiations. The fourth focuses on the transparency and accountability of the process for developing DSAs so they foster trust and confidence, drive continuous improvement, and enable better policy advice.