29-31 May 2024 in Paris, France
Finance for Development Lab | Paris School of Economics
The Finance for Development Lab and the Paris School of Economics will be hosting the 7th edition of the Interdisciplinary Sovereign Debt Research and Management Conference, or simply "DebtCon", on 29-31 May 2024, at the Paris School of Economics. Since its launch at Georgetown in 2015, DebtCon has brought together law and social science scholars, civil society representatives, and practitioners from the public and private sectors who work on sovereign debt, to help find creative solutions for urgent debt policy challenges.
Sovereign debt architecture is getting more complex, and new insights are needed to understand its transformations. There have been signs of progress: in 2023, the “Common Framework”, the debt restructuring mechanism established by the G20 in November 2020, has delivered its first landmark deals. Official loans are increasingly integrating terms that provide for climate disaster contingencies. On the other hand, rising interest rate risks are materializing just as redemptions are poised to spike in 2024 and 2025. So-called “frontier markets” are facing difficulties rolling over capital market debt, and turning to more opaque and expensive sources of funding on less favorable terms. This might reduce their growth prospects and prevent investment in infrastructure, health, education, climate change. It could also generate increasing political conflicts. These problems, as well as many others, require new ideas, cutting edge research and dialogue between academics and policymakers.
Like the first six editions, DebtCon7 will include high-level roundtables and keynotes with cutting-edge research presented in parallel sessions. This tradition has shown that valuable insights emerge from joining academic and policy debates about sovereign debt across disciplines, including economists, finance and legal scholars, historians, political scientists, political economists, sociologists and anthropologists. These discussions benefit from and help inform the thinking of practitioners from a similarly broad range of geographic and institutional backgrounds, including official sector, financial market, and civil society representatives.
How to receive updates:
We will provide all logistical details in the coming months. You can check this page regularly, or subscribe to our mailing list: you can register here.
For any questions, please reach out to: debtcon7@findevlab.org
DebtCon7 Hosts:
- Martin Kessler (Finance for Development Lab)
- Anna Gelpern (Georgetown Law IIEL and Sovereign Debt Forum)
- Layna Mosley (Princeton University)
- Ugo Panizza (Geneva Graduate Institute)
We look forward to seeing you in Paris in May 2024!