Martin Kessler

@mkessler.bsky.social

Executive Director of the Finance for Development Lab; development finance geek;

Senegal debt. Options paper by Abdoulaye Ndiaye (NYU) & Martin Kessler (FinDevLab Paris). "There may be some doubts about the future level of the interest bill, which appears low relative to what we know about the stock." Read the whole thing. findevlab.org/debt-crisis-...

Debt Crisis in Senegal: A Strategic Compass

By Abdoulaye Ndiaye (NYU Stern School of Business) & Martin Kessler (FDL) A Strategic Compass for Navigating Senegal's Debt Crisis Download Policy

findevlab.org

🚨 New Policy Paper Alert! 📄 📢 "HOW THE UK CAN PLUG THE ODA HOLE?" ➡️ On February 28, 2025, PM Keir Starmer announced a significant ODA reduction from 0.5% to 0.3% of GNI, translating to a projected £6.2 billion cut to the UK's aid budget!

Bild

📈 Focusing on the 2019 debt situation, Marin Ferry and Ishac Diwan uncovered significant differences in how countries managed their borrowing after the 2000s debt reduction schemes. 💡 Not all nations that borrowed extensively fell into crisis.

Bild

Eurobond prospectuses referencing the USAID disruptions: "Kenya, a major beneficiary of USAID, has been significantly impacted, with thousands of health workers facing retrenchment. The temporary 90-day waiver permits some continued aid, but long-term stability remains uncertain. The Kenyan ..."

Can smarter people explain to me why Egypt is 21% richer than South Africa ($18.5k in GDP per capita PPP vs. $15.2) but is a lower middle-income country while South Africa is UMIC? Is it about GNI/GDP or Atlas method? Anyway - it's weird!

Bild

📣 📚 New Release! We just published a Working Paper along with a comprehensive database that spans 1️⃣1️⃣ years and includes 6️⃣0️⃣5️⃣ Debt Sustainability Analyses for Low-Income Countries. Our goal is to allow researchers to dig into how debt projections are made and their impact.