A new global debt crisis

The pandemic has brought in its wake a host of economic crises, which will have to be addressed in order to bring the global economy back to health in the long term. The additional fiscal burden of lockdowns and public health requirements has been especially hard on emerging markets. Some of these have sought to tap global capital markets to make up the difference. Others are already more indebted and are looking for a suspension or even forgiveness of their debt repayments. Yet some have been forced into, or are faced with, sovereign downgrades, which limit their fiscal space to