In many emerging and developing economies, debt crises are often explained as the result of excessive borrowing or weak fiscal discipline. While headline debt indicators remain important, experience from recent crises suggests a more nuanced reality. While public debt is visible, fiscal risk is often hidden—until it is too late. Fiscal distress frequently originates not from what is recorded on the balance sheet, but from risks that accumulate quietly outside it. These off-balance-sheet risks include contingent liabilities, such as losses in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), government guarantees, public-private partnerships (PPPs), quasi-fiscal operations, and climate-related obligations. Such exposures may remain manageable for years and attract limited attention during periods of growth. When economic conditions deteriorate, however, they can crystallize rapidly into public debt, transforming latent vulnerabilities into acute fiscal stress. […]