Following the 1980s debt crisis a consensus has emerged that there is a debt threshold in the debt-growth relationship. This paper estimates the debt threshold empirically using endogenous threshold model proposed by Hansen (1996, 2000) and several other modelling strategies to check the...

This paper investigates the relationship between external debt and economic growth in poor countries. The adverse effects of external debt on economic performance are due to the crowding out of public investment and to the disincentive effects, because of debt overhang and uncertainty....

In this paper I develop a model to investigate the connection between debt relief and current account sustainability. This model can be used as a key input in assessing whether a HIPC country's real exchange rate is 'overvalued,' and will thus need to go through devaluation. The working of the...

Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Insuring and financing trade -- Exporting goods to developing countries -- Paris Club debt rescheduling and the hipc initiative -- The cyclical process: the IMF, debt rescheduling and export credits -- Increasing trade during the crisis -- Conclusion -- Index

This study evaluates progress under the HIPC initiative since IEG's 2003 evaluation. It finds that the Enhanced HIPC initiative cut debt ratios in half for 18 countries, but in eight of these countries, the ratios have come to once again exceed HIPC thresholds. Debt reduction alone is not a...