
The Political Economy of Debt
Kshitiz Dahal, Paras Kharel, Ahsan Zia Farooqui, Dr. Faisal Bari, Waleed Mehmood, Ali Asad Sabir, Yolani Fernando, Umesh Moramudali
Soaring public debt, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been in the cross-hairs of public debate. South Asia is at the epicenter of the debate. Sri Lanka defaulted for the first time on its sovereign loan and Pakistan is facing severe difficulties in financing its increasing public debt stock. Another South Asian nation, Nepal, while not known for its debt issues, with a relatively modest debt stock, has seen some concern over its precipitously rising public debt. Against this background, three country studies (covering Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) were conducted to assess the state of public debt in these three South Asian nations and to identify what political-economic factors turned their debt sour.