High levels of government debt in the Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs), as well as the increases in global interest rates over the past two years, currently heighten risks of debt default in EMDEs. However, past debt defaults were often unsuccessful in addressing debt-related risks: more than one-third of past sovereign debt defaults failed to lower government debt or borrowing costs in a lasting manner. Those that succeeded were accompanied by above-median debt restructuring and growth accelerations [….]