A cascade of defaults

The developing world is facing a historic wave of defaults.

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Protesters march towards the Presidential Palace in Accra, Ghana, on June 29, 2022.  Photographer: Nipah Dennis/AFP A quarter-trillion dollar pile of distressed debt is threatening to drag the developing world into a historic cascade of defaults. Sri Lanka was the first nation to stop paying its foreign bondholders this year, burdened by unwieldy food and fuel costs that stoked protests and political chaos. Russia followed in June after it was sanctioned over the war in Ukraine. Now, focus is turning to El Salvador, Ghana, Egypt, Tunisia and Pakistan — nations that Bloomberg Economics sees as vulnerable to default.  Read The Big Take.

From today's story "With the low-income countries, debt risks and debt crises are not hypothetical. We're pretty much already there." —Carmen Reinhart  World Bank Chief Economist

ICYMI From April: Hunger and blackouts are just the start of a crisis for emerging economies. Central banks' inflation-fighting measures are threatening another shock to the world's economies and financial markets. Wall Street says a recession is looming, but many households and businesses say the downturn is already here. Read more from The Big Take.

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