Sovereign Debt with Jill Dauchy

Elena Duggar, Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer for the Americas at Moody’s Investor Services, dives deep into the intricate world of sovereign credit ratings. She discusses the challenges and methodologies behind credit ratings, emphasizing their impact on investment decisions. Elena also highlights the relationship between climate finance and debt for nature swaps, while addressing the role of transparency in evaluations. Additionally, she unpacks the nuances of political risks and innovative financial solutions shaping the future of credit ratings.

Iolanda Fresnillo from Eurodad discusses debt swaps, advocating for transparency and fairness in transactions, exploring challenges and risks in scaling up debt swaps, and emphasizing creative approaches to debt relief and restructuring. The conversation also delves into the evolving landscape of sovereign debt financing, aid delivery obstacles, and the significance of local community involvement in conservation funds.

Ruurd Brouwer, TCX's CEO, and Harald Hirschhofer, Senior Advisor, discuss borrowing in foreign currencies, challenges in currency risk management for low-income countries, the impact of commodity income on currency risk, TCX's role in assisting debt management offices, reducing currency exposure, and policy reforms to improve currency risk markets.

Hoang Pham, deputy division chief in the legal department of the International Monetary Fund, joins the show to walk us through everything we need to know about the IMF's special drawing rights. 

Joan Oriol Prats Cabrera, Lead Financial Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank, joins the show to discuss the IADB’s role in the recent Ecuador debt-for-nature swap and to address some of the major questions of the deal. 

Cesar Arias, former Director of the Debt Management Unit of Colombia, joins the show to discuss the strategies and challenges in creating the country’s green bond issuance program. 

Baba Musa, Director General of WAIFEM, the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, joins to discuss the current polycrisis facing Nigeria and many African countries, including the ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic, rising global interest rates, food insecurity, other impacts of the war in Ukraine, regional conflict in Sudan, and of course climate change.

Thierry Watrin, Green Economy Advisor to the Minister of State of Rwanda, joins “Sovereign Debt” to discuss Rwanda’s various climate and debt management initiatives. 

Herman Kamil, Director of the Debt Management Unit of Uruguay, joins “Sovereign Debt” to discuss the parameters of Uruguay’s sustainability-linked bond.

To kick off the new year, "Sovereign Debt" is sharing Jill Dauchy’s keynote address given at a retreat for UN Member State representatives on Financing for Development. The retreat is part of of the UN systems’ Financing for Development Report, which is a basis for government negotiations on financing issues at the annual FfD Forum.