EXTERNAL DEBT SUSTAINABILITY AND THE RECOVERY OF SOVEREIGNTY

Jean-François Ponsot –

This policy brief pursues a two fold objective. First, it surveys the key recent findings in
the academic literature on debt sustainability in developing economies, focusing on the
factors that have contributed to its marked deterioration in Sub-Saharan Africa. It then
identifies the mechanisms that could place sovereign debt back on a sustainable
trajectory and restore the fiscal space necessary for autonomous, long-term
development strategies, free from austerity-driven constraints.

This Policy brief is part of the editorial series published during the Experts meeting and International Conference organized by IDAN on Senegal’s debt Crisis (11 to 13 May,Dakar,Senegal).