Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Jan 4

This paper is WILD:

“Nestlé’s entry into LMIC formula markets caused about 212,000 infant deaths per year among mothers without clean water access… and has led to approximately 10.9 million excess infant deaths between 1960 and 2015.” www.nber.org/system/files...

www.nber.org

10 22

Reposted by Daniel Munevar

Charles Kenny @charlesjkenny.bsky.social · Dec 17

A blog on Development and Climate Finance Targets: The Worst of All Worlds.

www.cgdev.org/blog/develop...

TLDR: We really need climate finance agreements to have targets for adaptation and development finance in the poorest countries ....

Development and Climate Finance Targets: The Worst of All Worlds

Last week, the UN Foundation and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs kindly asked me to talk at an informal session on the coherence between development and climate finance. I learned a l...

www.cgdev.org

1 2 2

Reposted by Daniel Munevar

Layna Mosley @laynamosley.bsky.social · Dec 15

Die Hard is about a (prospective) bondholder claiming coupon and principal payments on (now obsolete) debt securities.

Die Hard is a sovereign finance movie.

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · Dec 14

Die Hard is about the airing of grievances & impossible feats of strength by an otherwise ordinary guy.

Die Hard is a Festivus movie.

2 4 11

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Dec 12

Had a request to look at some stuff in the latest WEO. For fun, I compiled the countries with the highest projected interest to government revenue ratios in 2025. Egypt and Pakistan are on a league of their own, 6 of the top 10 are African countries, and notable presence of India in this group 🧐

3 4

Reposted by Daniel Munevar

Clémence Landers @clemencelanders.bsky.social · Dec 6

IDA reaches $100 B replenishment which should allow it to sustain current program levels around $33-$34 B a year in low cost financing. (1/3)

www.worldbank.org/en/news/pres...

World Bank Group Announces Record $100 Billion IDA Replenishment

The World Bank Group and partner governments have mobilized a record replenishment to the International Development Association (IDA), the world’s largest source of development finance for low-income ...

www.worldbank.org

1 1 1

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Dec 6

Talking with the FT about the Ivory Coast / World Bank swap deal. Couple of good things on this one. Managed to drive down intermediation costs by side stepping SPV structure and allowed the country to allocate proceeds from transaction. on.ft.com/3BhkuzW

Ivory Coast turns to World Bank to replace costly debt

Swap deal to buy back bonds issued in January comes as African borrowers struggle under expensive debt burdens

on.ft.com

2 5

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Dec 5

This IMF Independent Evaluation Office sounds VERY promising. Who could have thought that side stepping rules for large loans due political interference of large shareholders was a problem? 😉

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

a man in a suit and tie is running down a sidewalk with the words let me in written on it .

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is running down a sidewalk with the words let me in written on it .

media.tenor.com

1 3

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Dec 4

Interesting analysis of the relationship between external public debt service and public expenditures. Expenditure in areas such as agriculture, environment and education tends to decrease when debt service goes up (with the caveat that the analysis doesn't mean to establish a causal relationship).

4

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Dec 4

Net negative transfers on external public debt in middle and low-income countries continued in 2023. Public sectors in these countries paid more to creditors than they received in fresh funding. Multilaterals are providing net positive flows, while private creditors continue to drain resources.

1 5 7

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Dec 4

Christmas has arrived early for the debt community with the release of the World Bank International Debt Report 2024 🎅

After a quick scan (still have to go through the data), two things caught my attention 🧵

www.worldbank.org/en/programs/....

International Debt Report

The World Bank’s International Debt Report features external debt statistics and analysis for low- and middle-income countries and information on new bond issuance in international capital markets.

www.worldbank.org

1 10 20

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Dec 2

An additional element of interest is the role of the IADB. Maybe is their requirements that make it better/cheape to structure as a loan? What is their cost of opportunity vs providing an outright loan? Also interesting role of EIB 👀

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Dec 2

Another debt swap backed by a loan instead of a bond issuance. Something I really like about this transaction is that secures long-term funding in local currency, reducing costs while improving resilience to external shocks www.reuters.com/business/env...

Barbados completes world first debt swap for climate resilience

Barbados has completed the world's first 'debt-for-climate' swap aimed at raising money to help the Caribbean island build resilience in its water systems to the damaging effects of climate change.

www.reuters.com

1

Reposted by Daniel Munevar

tekla 💜✨ @tekla.bsky.social · Nov 29

Fifty. Six. Percent. Increase. In. The deaths. Of. Pregnant. People.

St. John Barned-Smith @stjbs.bsky.social · Nov 27

"Across Texas, residency applications in ob-gyn dropped significantly. Data from the Gender Equity Policy Institute revealed a fifty-six-per-cent spike in maternal deaths in the state between 2019 and 2022."

www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The Texas Ob-Gyn Exodus

Amid increasingly stringent abortion laws, doctors who provide maternal care have been fleeing the state.

www.newyorker.com

66 1.2K 2.5K

Reposted by Daniel Munevar

Michael Pettis @michaelpettis.bsky.social · Nov 28

1/6
After reading Kevin Gallagher and Mark Sobel's new piece on debt relief, I note that I am also reading Martin Daunton's very interesting new book in which, early in the book, he discusses how a US declaration of non-intervention in...

www.omfif.org/2024/11/dist...

Distressed LICs need debt relief, not more new debt - OMFIF

IMF emphasis on liquidity strains is off target

www.omfif.org

2 7 32

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Nov 28

Great overview of status and main characteristics of the wave of recent debt restructurings by JPM. Useful to think about comparisons with historical benchmarks. In most cases NPV relief is below historical median of 38-42%. A harbinger of serial restructurings?

3 7

Reposted by Daniel Munevar

Ugo Panizza @upanizza.bsky.social · Nov 26

Are you passionate about economics? Do you want to do a master which will change your life and help you change the world. Come to the Geneva Graduate Institute!

14 15

Reposted by Daniel Munevar

Josh Gabbatiss @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social · Nov 25

To understand global south anger at the COP29 climate finance goal it's crucial to understand two key numbers.

1️⃣ "At least" $300bn/year - developed nations agreed to "take the lead" in mobilising this for developing countries

2️⃣ $1.3tn/year - a wider, vaguer goal

They sound pretty big! But...

2 38 62

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Nov 25

IMF surcharges reached US$ 1.9 billion, equivalent to 53% of lending income and 39% of operational income in FY2024. Mind you, these profits were made from the most vulnerable borrowers of the Fund. Unfortunately, the recent reform failed to address the structural problems of the policy.

1 3

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Nov 25

Public statisticians specialised in development assistance and climate finance accounting gimmicks looking at the COP29 text.

4

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Nov 25

Not representative but best coverage I saw was yours and @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social in here. Nothing of value in X. Coverage in media mostly came after the agreement (I.e not a lot of info on negotiations).

1 3

Reposted by Daniel Munevar

Charles Kenny @charlesjkenny.bsky.social · Nov 24

Obsessing over quantity and forgetting quality of climate finance is the Baku COP’s biggest failure. Not that $300bn is too low to meet demands for action and justice (though that’s true). It’s that the world’s poorest & least responsible for climate change will be robbed by it.

1 4 3

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Nov 24

Rule of law*.
*Conditions and terms apply.

1 3

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Nov 23

Price aggregator sites meant to check for discounts have that info 😀

1

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Nov 23

The co-facilitators of the UN Financing for Development Conference have just published an elements paper based on over 300 contributions. Important document as it sets the blueprint fro the conference next year in Spain. financing.desa.un.org/sites/defaul...

financing.desa.un.org

1 2

Daniel Munevar @danielmunevar.bsky.social · Nov 23

The problem with external debt financing of investment in adaptation is the currency mismatch. Projects with a lot of local content which will not expand export capacity. A recipe for chronic indebtedness and financial fragility.

Paddy Carter @paddycarter.bsky.social · Nov 22

Aside from the fact that the politics in most developed countries are not amenable to a huge increase in transfers to developing countries, it seems to me concessional debt (with a grant element) is usually what's needed as opposed to pure grants: www.bii.co.uk/en/news-insi...

When countries should borrow for climate - British International Investment

www.bii.co.uk

3