Debt Fixes Can Help Rebuild Ukraine

Almost 11 months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s tragedy, and that of its people, is staggering. Daily missile strikes bring death, but also reveal remarkable resilience and fortitude. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, it is the end of the beginning, not yet the beginning of the end. Nonetheless, it’s time to look forward to a new beginning for Ukraine.

Just as the Allies began preparing for post-World War Two economic order at Bretton Woods in 1944, so policy planners in Kyiv, Washington, Brussels and London must start the complex and essential process of planning for rebuilding before the conflict ends. In doing so they should deploy the financial innovation which helped to halt the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s: Brady bonds.

The approach of the United States and President Joe Biden will be pivotal to planning and executing the reconstruction. It requires a 21st-century Marshall Plan led by America and joined by European allies. Direct financing of the rebuilding and recovery will be essential. Ukraine’s leaders, though mightily burdened with the defense of their country, should simultaneously focus on multilateral talks to delineate the outlines of financing and support for the reconstruction that will be essential once the guns fall silent. […]

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