Sovereign Debt Management

Abstract

This paper reviews debt management strategies in Latin America from a positive and a normative perspective. It discusses the definition of the debt perimeter (what items should be considered to optimize the cost-risk balance of a debt strategy), broadening the scope beyond documented general government liabilities to include both contingent and non-financial items, provides an empirical account of the evolution of the composition of sovereign debt in Latin American in the past 20 years, and draws key policy implications.