Before the background of the debt crisis loan loss provisioning has been gaining in importance, as one of the measures adopted by banks to reduce their exposure in highly indebted countries and to strengthen their balance sheets. Prof. Abbott examines the concept and forms of provisioning, and...

This paper studies how the currency composition of public debt affects debt sustainability in developing countries. We show empirically that the debt-to-GDP ratio tends to grow at a faster rate when countries with a high share of foreign currency debt face a currency depreciation. The paper also...