Debt crises and multilateral solutions

In this episode, reflecting on the past five years – marked by crises that have left many countries struggling to manage their debt – Paola Subacchi and Ceyla Pazarbasioglu discuss multilateral policy initiatives such as the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), the Common Framework and the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable. They also examine the role of the International Monetary Fund as the lender of last resort.

Hosts & Guest

Paola Subacchi is Professor and Chair in Sovereign Debt and Finance at Sciences Po, and Professor of Political Economy of Europe at the University of Bologna. She is also a partner at Essential Economics, a London-based consultancy that advises governments, international organisations, and private companies.

Ceyla Pazarbasioglu is the Director of the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department (SPR) at the IMF, serving in this role since 2020. Through this role, she has launched a variety of programmes including the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable, as well as playing a key role in operationalizing the G-20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments.

Prior to serving as the SPR Director, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu served as the Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions at the World Bank Group from 2015 to 2020, where she managed a portfolio of $30 billion in operational and policy work and advisory engagements. She also served in a variety of different positions with the IMF from 1992-1998 and 2003-2015, including as Deputy Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department, Assistant Director in the European Department, and Mission Chief for Ukraine. Earlier in her career, she helped Türkiye’s government contain and resolve the 2001 economic crisis — first as a member of the government’s crisis management team, then as the Vice President of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.

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