We consider the problem of a government that wants to manage the country's debt-to- GDP (gross domestic product) ratio. The latter evolves stochastically in continuous time, and its drift is given by the interest rate on government debt, net of the growth rate of GDP. We further allow the...

Our previous assessment of debt sustainability in developing Asia, conducted in 2011, found that the region's fiscal outlook was mostly benign. In this study we update the debt sustainability assessment, taking stock of the latest data and including a larger number of countries. With the benefit...

The global financial and economic crisis has placed a significant strain on public finances in many economies. Since sound public finances are crucial for price and financial stability and for economic growth, concerns about rising debt commitments have led to a renewed interest in the analysis...

We seek to account for the very high levels of public debt recently reached in many OECD countries. We do so by assuming that governments do their utmost to stave off default, which occurs only when a government fails to muster the funds needed for debt service. This distinguishes our work from...