Fiscal Vulnerabilities in Low-Income Countries: Evolution, Drivers, and Policies

This study constitutes the first systematic assessment of the causes of chronic fiscal weakness in the very poorest economies—those with annual per capita incomes of less than $1,145 a year. These economies are poorer today on average than they were on the eve of COVID-19, even though the rest of the world has largely recovered. Government debt, on average, now stands at 72 percent of GDP, an 18-year high. Nearly half of these low-income countries (LICs)—twice the number in 2015—are either in debt distress or at high risk of it. Not one of them is at low risk.

de Nicola, Francesca; Mattoo, Aaditya; Tran, Trang Thu. 2025. Green Technologies: Decarbonizing Development in East Asia and Pacific. East Asia and Pacific Development Studies.