WFD: Taking the political economy of borrowing seriously

Westminster Foundation for Democracy is organizing this fourth and last session of the webinar series on public debt, with expert panelists addressing several important questions such as: 

• How can we improve the governance of debt decision-making, and monitoring of its usage? 

• Why and under which circumstances do governments accumulate more debt than it would be consistent with the prescriptions of optimal fiscal policy?  

• What political mechanisms make governments depart from optimal and sustainable decisions on public debt?  

• How do political interests constrain borrowing decisions? 

• What is the role of international financial institutions, debtor nations, creditors, and other stakeholders? 

Panel members: 

• Dr. Ben Cormier, lecturer (assistant professor) Department of Government and Public Policy University of Strathclyde, UK.
• Ms. Penelope Hawkins, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Debt and Development Finance Branch, Globalisation and Development Strategies, UNCTAD.
• Ms. Yunnan Chen, Research Fellow, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), UK.

Moderator: Mr. Shem Joshua Otieno, Policy Analyst and Advocacy Officer Sovereign Debt Management, AFRODAD.