Sovereign debt levels are historically high in most advanced and emerging market economies—dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic pushed global public debt close to a shocking 100 percent of GDP at the end of 2021, well above the already high levels built up after the Global Financial Crisis. In this context, two new shocks—the war in Ukraine and the Fed's interest rates hikes—are creating new challenges to financial stability and sovereign debt management around the globe. Old ghosts linking financial instability to sovereign debt (like the sovereign-bank nexus) are also emerging.

In this joint Center for Global Development - Florence School of Banking and Finance event, panelists will reflect on the effects of recent shocks in both Europe and Latin America, and debate optimal policy responses. Key issues to be discussed include whether financial crises in these regions can be avoided and what fresh initiatives at the national and multinational level are required.

Featuring Panelists

• Joyce Chang, Chair of Global Research, J.P. Morgan
• Vitor Gaspar, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF
• Leonardo Villar, Governor, Central Bank of Colombia
• Boris Vujcic, Governor, Central Bank of Croatia

Moderator

• Liliana Rojas-Suarez, Director of the Latin America Initiative and Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development

Welcoming Remarks

• Thorsten Beck, Director, Florence School of Banking and Finance, European University Institute