IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/prs/recofi/ecofi_1767-4603_2001_hos_6_1_4559.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Debt in Transition Economies: Where is it Heading, What can be Done About it?

Author

Listed:
  • Willem Buiter
  • Ricardo Lago

Abstract

[eng] Since the start of the transition, the countries of central-eastern Europe and the Baltic States, South-Eastern Europe and the CIS have experienced a wide variety of debt developments. The paper traces the main developments in the indebtedness of the countries in the region and shows how the debt burdens of countries have changed dramatically. While some countries that were heavily indebted at the beginning of the transition have reduced their debt burdens, others that started off debt-free have accumulated debt to such an extent that it may now be unsustainable. The paper places special emphasis on the issue of external and public debt sustainability and the build-up of debt between CIS countries and the related energy payments crisis. The article concludes with some possible approaches to debt workouts for CIS countries, including several types of debt swaps. . JEL classifications : P20, P35 [fre] La dette des économies en transition : évolution et marche à suivre . Depuis le début de la transition, les pays de l’Est ont connu de nombreux développements en matière de dette. Le présent article suit les principaux développements de l’endettement des pays de la région et montre les changements radicaux qui ont marqué le poids de la dette dans ces pays. Si certains, fortement endettés au début de la transition, ont réduit le fardeau de leur dette, d’autres qui avaient commencé dans de bonnes conditions ont accumulé l’endettement à un point probablement insoutenable. L’article insiste tout particulièrement sur la question de la soutenabilité de la dette publique et extérieure, de l’accumulation des dettes entre les pays de la CEI et de la crise qui a touché les paiements des importations d’énergie. Enfin, le document suggère quelques approches en matière de restructuration de l’endettement des pays de la CEI, dont différents types d’échanges de dette. . Classification JEL : P20, P35

Suggested Citation

  • Willem Buiter & Ricardo Lago, 2001. "Debt in Transition Economies: Where is it Heading, What can be Done About it?," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 6(1), pages 191-213.
  • Handle: RePEc:prs:recofi:ecofi_1767-4603_2001_hos_6_1_4559
    DOI: 10.3406/ecofi.2001.4559
    Note: DOI:10.3406/ecofi.2001.4559
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecofi.2001.4559
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.persee.fr/doc/ecofi_1767-4603_2001_hos_6_1_4559
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3406/ecofi.2001.4559?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeremy Bulow & Kenneth Rogoff, 1991. "Sovereign Debt Repurchases: No Cure for Overhang," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1219-1235.
    2. Bulow, J. & Rogof, K., 1989. "Sovereign Debt Repurchases: No Cure For Overhang," Working papers 8903, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
    3. Stanley Fischer, 2001. "Exchange Rate Regimes: Is the Bipolar View Correct?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 3-24, Spring.
    4. Buiter, Willem H. & Srinivasan, T. N., 1987. "Rewarding the profligate and punishing the prudent and poor: Some recent proposals for debt relief," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 411-417, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andreea Stoian & Filip Iorgulescu, 2016. "The study of public debt: which are the distinctions between the emerging and advanced economies in the European Union?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 43(1), pages 167-196, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Willem Buiter & Ricardo Lago, 2001. "La dette des économies en transition : évolution et marche à suivre," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 6(1), pages 207-231.
    2. Fernando A. Broner & Guido Lorenzoni & Sergio L. Schmukler, 2013. "Why Do Emerging Economies Borrow Short Term?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11, pages 67-100, January.
    3. Arellano, Cristina & Kocherlakota, Narayana, 2014. "Internal debt crises and sovereign defaults," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(S), pages 68-80.
    4. berlage, Lodewijk & cassimon, Danny & dreze, Jacques & Reding, Paul, 2003. "Prospective Aid and Indebtedness Relief: A Proposal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(10), pages 1635-1654, October.
    5. Martinez, Jose Vicente & Sandleris, Guido, 2011. "Is it punishment? Sovereign defaults and the decline in trade," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 909-930, October.
    6. Gertner, Robert & Scharfstein, David, 1991. "A Theory of Workouts and the Effects of Reorganization Law," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1189-1222, September.
    7. Röhrs, Sigrid & Winter, Christoph, 2015. "Public versus private provision of liquidity: Is there a trade-off?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 314-339.
    8. Auclert, Adrien & Rognlie, Matthew, 2016. "Unique equilibrium in the Eaton–Gersovitz model of sovereign debt," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 134-146.
    9. Broer, Tobias, 2014. "Domestic or global imbalances? Rising income risk and the fall in the US current account," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 47-67.
    10. Detragiache, Enrica, 1991. "Sensible debt buybacks for highly indebted countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 621, The World Bank.
    11. Juan José Echavarría & Andrés González, 2012. "Choques internacionales reales y financieros y su impacto sobre la economía colombiana," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 30(69), pages 14-66, December.
    12. Leonardo Villar-Gómez & Javier Gómez & Andrés Murcia Pabón & Wilmar Cabrera & Hernando Vargas, 2023. "The monetary and macroprudential policy framework in Colombia in the last 30 years: lessons learnt and challenges for the future," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Central banking in the Americas: Lessons from two decades, volume 127, pages 87-112, Bank for International Settlements.
    13. Wang, Wen-Yao & Hernandez-Verme, Paula, 2009. "Multiple Reserve Requirements, Exchange Rates, Sudden Stops and Equilibrium Dynamics in a Small Open Economy," MPRA Paper 13802, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Kristin J. Forbes, 2007. "The Microeconomic Evidence on Capital Controls: No Free Lunch," NBER Chapters, in: Capital Controls and Capital Flows in Emerging Economies: Policies, Practices, and Consequences, pages 171-202, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Ms. Magdalena Polan & Parmeshwar Ramlogan & Mr. Carlos I. Medeiros, 2007. "A Primer on Sovereign Debt Buybacks and Swaps," IMF Working Papers 2007/058, International Monetary Fund.
    16. Guillermo A. Calvo & Carmen M. Reinhart, 2002. "Fear of Floating," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(2), pages 379-408.
    17. Chen Yu-Fu & Funke Michael & Glanemann Nicole, 2013. "Off-the-record target zones: theory with an application to Hong Kong’s currency board," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 373-393, September.
    18. Kocenda, Evzen & Hanousek, Jan & Engelmann, Dirk, 2008. "Currencies, competition, and clans," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1115-1132.
    19. Abdelraouf, Nadine & Noureldin, Diaa, 2022. "The impact of the exchange rate regime on the dispersion of the price-change distribution: Evidence from a large panel of countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    20. Müller-Plantenberg, Nikolas A., 2010. "Balance of payments accounting and exchange rate dynamics," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 46-63, January.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General
    • P35 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Public Finance
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General
    • P35 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Public Finance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:prs:recofi:ecofi_1767-4603_2001_hos_6_1_4559. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Equipe PERSEE (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.persee.fr/collection/ecofi .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.