This episode looks at how developing countries can finance their growth without adding to already heavy debt burdens. From the lessons of past debt relief to the use of state assets to attract equity investment, Reza Baqir, Managing Director and Global Practice Leader for Sovereign Advisory Services at Alvarez & Marsal, shares why countries should make use of their whole balance sheet and how sovereign wealth funds can play a key role in doing so.

Hosts & Guests:

• Paola Subacchi is Professor and Chair in Sovereign Debt and Finance at Sciences Po, and Professor of Political Economy of Europe at the University of Bologna. She is also a partner at Essential Economics, a London-based consultancy that advises governments, international organisations, and private companies.
  From 2019 to 2024 she was at Queen Mary University of London, where she helped establish the Queen Mary Global Policy Institute. Previously, she directed the International Economics Research Department at Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs) in London.
• Reza Baqir is Managing Director and Global Practice Leader of Sovereign Advisory Services at Alvarez & Marsal in Dubai. He brings more than 25 years of experience working with governments and central banks on macroeconomic stability, sustainable growth, sovereign debt and economic crises. He previously served as Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and spent 19 years at the International Monetary Fund, where he held senior positions including Head of the Debt Policy Division and Senior Resident Representative in Egypt. He also worked at the World Bank and has extensive experience in sovereign debt sustainability, restructuring and emerging market policy.

Production : Paola Subacchi

Coordination : Nathalie Corvée

Musique : Nils Bertinelli

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