Belize has been labeled a serial debt defaulter. The country is highly dependent on tourism as a main source of revenue. There was an option on the table for Belize but it came with austerity conditions. A US-based conservation organization had done a kind of what's called a debt for nature swap in the Seychelles a few years earlier. They approached Belize and the Belize government were excited by the prospect that they could pursue this avenue of restructuring their debt without those kinds of conditions.
There’s a new way for some countries struggling under piles of debt to get relief: by agreeing to spend part of the difference on the environment. The Nature Conservancy, the US-based environmental group, is teaming up with big financial institutions to offer what’s called Blue Bonds, or debt-for-nature swaps. The bank alleviates some of the country’s debt burden, and the government puts the savings toward restoring coral reefs and other environmental projects. Belize and the Seychelles are among a handful of nations that have taken the offer so far, and many more are in the works.
Bloomberg journalists Sydney Maki and Natasha White join this episode to explain how these complex deals work–and who’s profiting from the bargain.
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