Public Debt Reporting in Developing Countries
More than 20 developing countries do not publish any data on their sovereign debt. In those that do disclose data, public debt statistics usually do not comply with international standards in terms of coverage and definitions. Some information can...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/385051643653142482/Public-Debt-Reporting-in-Developing-Countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36921 |
| Summary: | More than 20 developing countries do
not publish any data on their sovereign debt. In those that
do disclose data, public debt statistics usually do not
comply with international standards in terms of coverage and
definitions. Some information can be deduced through
indirect disclosure of debt statistics to external agents,
such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,
and this can help minimize data gaps. This paper has two
main objectives. First, it measures the extent of
transparency in direct reporting and identifies the factors
that promote it. The results show that debt transparency is
fostered by standardized recording and reporting systems,
high levels of external scrutiny (for example, Eurobond
issuance and ratings), and the presence of highly skilled
staff at the local debt office. Second, the paper describes
the reporting ecosystem in which two type of channels
(direct and indirect) coexist and provides novel estimates
of the data gaps across the two. Cross-comparison of direct
reporting and the World Bank–International Monetary Fund
Debt Sustainability Analysis shows that deviations in public
debt stocks can represent up to 30 percent of national gross
domestic product. Based on these results, the paper puts
forward a call for action to (i) improve debt transparency
by focusing on those factors that best promote transparency;
(ii) shifting the focus of multilateral development banks’
operations and technical assistance from indirect to direct
reporting; (iii) introducing minimum but enforceable
international standards for direct reporting; and (iv)
promoting the use of modern and integrated debt recording
and reporting systems. |
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