Background Paper No. 34
By Anit Mukherjee and Caroline Arkalji
Indo-Pacific Digital Networks for the Future
By Anit Mukherjee
The Indo-Pacific’s future will be shaped by secure, interoperable digital systems that advance public service delivery, expand financial inclusion, and foster cross-border collaboration.
Do debt swaps deliver on development finance?
By Udaibir Das
While financial institutions promote debt swaps as ‘win-win’ solutions that address both debt distress and development financing, borrowing countries report a systematic failure in achieving both objectives, revealing an inversion of development finance principles.
How developing countries are turning climate risk into economic opportunity
By Udaibir Das
If climate finance is to support transitions that are durable and inclusive, it must evolve to accommodate precisely these kinds of interventions: institutionally grounded, locally designed and systemically significant.
Bridging the AI Divide: A BRICS Strategy for Inclusive Innovation, Sovereignty, and Capacity Building
By Anit Mukherjee
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a key enabler of economic and social transformation, the BRICS grouping — comprising both emerging and influential economies — has a unique opportunity to shape the trajectory of AI development through a Global South lens.
The Rise of Stablecoins and How to Regulate Them
By Udaibir Das
As private digital tokens gain ground, existing oversight and payment monitoring frameworks are struggling to keep pace. While regulators debate their response, the market—driven mainly by U.S.-based technology and market actors—is moving ahead.
The arc of ascent of China’s financial system
By Udaibir Das
China must build on its institutional progress and the policy suggestions noted in the 2025 FSSA while adapting to a more fragmented global financial landscape. The shift from insulation, as pointed out by the IMF in 2010, as well as the shift to sensible integration, as outlined by the IMF in 2025, stays unfinished.
Capital crunch stifles entrepreneurs in low-income economies
By Udaibir Das
As concessional finance declines, vulnerabilities mount and aid priorities shift, vulnerable low-income countries must increasingly rely on domestic sources of funding. Efficient capital markets are not a luxury – they are foundational infrastructure for economic growth.
What happens when global donors shy away from aid
By Udaibir Das
The key question is not whether the decline in aid and external assistance will push these economies towards more debt – it already does – but rather what kind of debt they will incur and what long-term implications it will bring.
New AI models risk economic amnesia
By Udaibir Das
As AI takes on a greater role in economic analysis and policy, an unsettling question arises: will its ability to recognise systemic risks with historical precedents weaken with a lack of immediate algorithmic reference?
From Galápagos to Global: Leveraging Debt-For-Nature Swaps for Debt Relief and Environmental Protection
2025 could be the tipping point for India’s economic aspirations
By Udaibir Das
The world’s most populous democracy faces a turbulent landscape of geopolitical rivalries, technological shifts and the urgency of climate action. The question remains: will global economic forces propel India toward leadership or will they impede its ascent?
Digital Public Infrastructure as a Catalyst for Private Sector Innovation: Lessons from Fintech Sector in India
Outlook 2025: Crucial ‘bridge year’ for Africa to lead on the global stage
By Udaibir Das
In 2024, Africa’s economic and political importance grew significantly, laying a strong foundation for 2025 to be a transformative year for the continent.
India must seize the opportunities in Latin America
By Anit Mukherjee
With the Indian prime minister’s and external affairs minister’s recent visits to Latin America, the engagements are a sign of India’s deepening commitment to improve and strengthen strategic and economic ties with the region where it is still playing catch up to China.
Rebalancing Globalization: Perspectives from the Global South
"Rebalancing Globalization: Perspectives from the Global South" attempts to provide a framework for the next phase of globalization that is rebalanced and sustainable and can address issues that matter to the Global South.
Edited Volume
By Anit Mukherjee, Dhruva Jaishankar, Alan Gelb, Pamla Gopaul, Marta Bengoa, Shayak Sengupta, Aude Darnal, Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, Udaibir Das, Veronica Jijon, and Lorrayne Porciuncula
Editors: Anit Mukherjee and Dhruva Jaishankar
Labor Markets in India: Measurement in Times of Structural Change
By Surjit S. Bhalla, Karan Bhasin, and Tirthatanmoy Das
Using a structural micro-econometric model, the roles of both the labor market and the household sector in female labor participation are evaluated to analyze the evolution of India’s labor market.
Brics’ daringly autonomous model for financial sovereignty
By Udaibir Das
Where do Brics, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank overlap in their newly released communiques on the global economic landscape?
The trio of risks reshaping SWF strategies
By Udaibir Das
How do sovereign wealth funds navigate current times while building portfolio resilience?
Rethinking African financial stability reports
By Udaibir Das
How can countries with small and shallow financial markets adopt financial stability reports that are more suited for their economic conditions?