We mourn the passing of Shamshad Akhtar, a distinguished development economist, global public servant, and cherished colleague, whose leadership, integrity, and humanity left an enduring mark on economic policymaking and international cooperation. She passed away at the age of 71, leaving behind a legacy of service that spanned national institutions and the multilateral system.
There is growing momentum for a reform of the international sovereign debt architecture. In recent weeks, a series of high-level meetings and reports—from the Financing for Development Conference in Seville to the launch of the Vatican-backed Jubilee Report—have advanced the debate and echoed proposals long advocated by the Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery (DRGR) initiative.
At this year’s IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, calls for meaningful debt relief echoed loudly—but the official response remained stuck on fiscal tightening. As emerging market and developing economies face shrinking fiscal space and growing debt burdens, the gap between policy advice and economic reality is widening, with one crucial issue largely absent: the growing threat of climate change to debt sustainability.
