During the pandemic, African banks rebalanced their portfolio towards sovereign assets, and crowding out of credit to private sector intensified. Policy support, however, averted a credit crunch. The increase in public debt across Africa due to the COVID-19 crisis intensified crowding out of...

The economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, particularly for fragile countries, have renewed focus on debt transparency, prompting international organisations and national authorities to step up their efforts to improve the consistency, comparability, scope and frequency of debt...