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The main goal of this paper is to discuss the dynamics of public debt servicing – both domestic and foreign – in Zambia, tracing the trends, reforms and challenges over the period from 1964 to 2015. The paper shows that the exceptional rise in public debt servicing obligations in Zambia over the period under review has been principally due to high domestic and foreign interest rates, frequent debt rescheduling at commercial rates, and capitalisation of non-liquidated service obligations at commercial rates. Also revealed in the paper is the fact that prior to 2005, Zambia experienced severe public debt servicing problems which eased after 2006 owing to debt relief initiatives and an economic rebound. Among the government debt service reforms discussed in the paper are structural adjustments in foreign exchange management, fiscal and monetary reforms, and aggressive engagement of traditional creditors. Primary among the identified challenges of public debt servicing in Zambia was the insistent economic crises that dogged the country during the study period. Notwithstanding the current public debt service sustainability and remarkable economic performance that characterise the country today, the paper found that the recent contraction of nonconcessional loans by the state poses a threat to debt service sustainability in future. Hence, the paper recommends, among other things, for aligning of public sector infrastructure spending with revenues to ensure budget sustainability, and to continue diversifying the economy to minimise the impact of external commodity price shocks on the economy. ; The main goal of this paper is to discuss the dynamics of public debt servicing – both domestic and foreign – in Zambia, tracing the trends, reforms and challenges over the period from 1964 to 2015. The paper shows that the exceptional rise in public debt servicing obligations in Zambia over the period under review has been principally due to high domestic and foreign interest rates, frequent debt rescheduling at commercial rates, and capitalisation of non-liquidated service obligations at commercial rates. Also revealed in the paper is the fact that prior to 2005, Zambia experienced severe public debt servicing problems which eased after 2006 owing to debt relief initiatives and an economic rebound. Among the government debt service reforms discussed in the paper are structural adjustments in foreign exchange management, fiscal and monetary reforms, and aggressive engagement of traditional creditors. Primary among the identified challenges of public debt servicing in Zambia was the insistent economic crises that dogged the country during the study period. Notwithstanding the current public debt service sustainability and remarkable economic performance that characterise the country today, the paper found that the recent contraction of nonconcessional loans by the state poses a threat to debt service sustainability in future. Hence, the paper recommends, among other things, for aligning of public sector infrastructure spending with revenues to ensure budget sustainability, and to continue diversifying the economy to minimise the impact of external commodity price shocks on the economy.

Dužnički financijski instrumenti su specifične zbog komponente dospijeća koju sadržavaju te stoga konvencionalni pristupi u procjeni njihovih volatilnost mogu biti neprimjereni. Rad je usmjeren na modeliranje i prognoziranje volatilnosti cijene dužničkih vrijednosnih papira uzimajući u obzir komponentu njihovog dospijeća. U radu se uzima u obzir ovisnost volatilnosti dužničkog vrijednosnog papira o njegovom dospijeću i predlaže jednostavna i primjenjiva tehnike procjene volatilnosti uz željeni interval pouzdanosti. Korištenjem predloženog pristupa u radu su provedene procjene volatilnosti dužničkih vrijednosnih papira denominiranih eurima kao i u kunama koje je izdala Republika Hrvatska. ; Debt-based financial instruments are specific due to the maturity component and conventional approaches in estimating their volatility may not be applicable. This paper focuses on modeling and forecasting price volatility of sovereign debt instruments while taking into account their maturity. In doing so we propose a simple and useful technique for obtaining the desired confidence of volatility estimates. The proposed approach provides price volatility estimates for debt instruments issued by Croatian government denominated in HRK and in EUR.

U ovom radu istražuje se odnos između deviznih rezervi (FER) i inozemnog zaduživanja (FB) u okviru upravljanja kapitalnim tokovima. Da bi se istražio ovaj odnos i ispitao učinak kontrole kapitala na devizne pričuve i inozemne dugove za 25 zemalja u razvoju tijekom razdoblja 1985. - 2019.godine, primjenjena su dva pristupa: model autoregresije panelnih vektora (PVAR) i tradicionalni model potražnje deviznih pričuva. Rezultati pokazuju negativnu povezanost između FER-a i FB-a, a smjer uzročnosti je od dugova prema deviznim pričuvama. Kontrola kapitala, kao uspješna politika za ograničavanje kratkoročnih tokova, ne utječe na akumuliranje deviznih pričuva i, suprotno, smanjuje kratkoročne vanjske dugove. Korištenje neto inozemne imovine umjesto deviznih rezervi ukazuje na različite učinke kontrole kapitala i stoga se nameće pitanje o mogućnosti točne procjene deviznih pričuva. ; The study explores the relationship between foreign exchange reserves (FER) and foreign borrowing (FB) within the framework of the management of capital flows. To investigate this relationship and examine the effect of capital control on foreign exchange reserves and external debt of two approaches are applied, the panel vector autoregression model (PVAR) and a traditional model of the reserve demand for 25 emerging countries over the period 1985-2019. The results show a negative association between FER and FB; the direction of the causality was from debts to reserves. Capital controls, as an instrument to reduce the short-term inflows, fail to restrict the accumulation of exchange reserves and conversely, succeed in limiting the recourse to foreign borrowing. Net foreign assets replacing foreign exchange reserves highlights different impacts of capital controls and raise the issue on a correct evaluation of foreign exchange reserves.

Cilj ovog rada je ispitati odrednice javnog duga u zemljama zapadnog Balkana, s naglaskom na učinke gospodarskog rasta i socijalnih izdataka. Studija pokriva razdoblje od 2006. do 2017. godine i primjenjujemo dinamičku panel analizu, korištenjem diferenciranog i sistemskog GMM procjenitelja. Rezultati sugeriraju da inkrementalna promjena rasta značajno smanjuje dug, dok socijalni izdaci podižu omjer duga prema BDP-u. Također, postoji negativan odnos između inflacije i duga, dok otplaćivanje kamata na prethodno zaduživanje dodatno povećava javni dug. Konačno, nezaposlenost u ovom modelu nije statistički značajna. Glavna implikacija studije je da kreatori politika u ovim zemljama trebaju favorizirati politike usmjerene na rast i socijalne reforme orijentirane na djelotvornost, kako bi javni dug bio održiv na duže staze. ; The aim of this paper is to examine the determinants of public debt in the Western Balkan countries, with an emphasis on the effects of economic growth and social expenditures. The study covers the period 2006-2017, and we implement the dynamic panel GMM estimation, using both first-difference and system GMM. The results suggest that incremental growth change significantly reduces debt, while social expenditures push the debt-to-GDP ratio up. Also, there is a negative relation between inflation and debt, while interest payments on previous borrowing increase public debt additionally. Finally, unemployment is not statistically significant in this setting. The main policy implication is that policy makers in these countries should favor a growth-oriented policy toolbox and efficiency-oriented social reforms, in order to keep the public debt sustainable in the long run.

In this article, the author relates the role of money & finances with the basic structuring of social relations. Money is the only universal form of social wealth, its measure & its meaning. Up to the present, however, the economic theory has been underestimating & overlooking money's politico-economic role. This is revealed most radically in periods of major financial & economic crises. Consequently, the author points out that today's economy of depression often depresses the economists themselves & their science. Bidet's theory of modernity, along with Habermas's, is the last large-scale attempt at theoretical explanation of the social totality, but his theoretical reconstruction of society by means of underlying "metastructures" is based on non-financial & non-monetary forms of social mediation. In contrast, the author of this article seeks to prove that precisely money & finances belong to the central metastructure of market society. What is important here is not only the subversive role of money as the monopoly-holding & political good in the exchange, but also its financial form of debt, resulting from the particular social role of debt accumulation. Society is connected with debt accumulation, & the economic sovereignty of money is its political legitimacy as debt. Therein lies its sociality, the foundation of underlying communication & of cooperation as metastructure of market society development. The present-day crisis has propelled the debt accumulation problem to absurd levels. It has brought to light that the greatest contradictions of today's market society are based on the economic & social globalization of finances. Contemporary capitalism is a genuine financial capitalism, which is why there can be no solution without a politico-economic & cultural reconstruction of the monetary regime & of financial economy. Accordingly, the author shows that the solution to the current economic crisis points precisely to the "metastructure" of market society. Adapted from the source document.

Taking up Freud's positions on economy and mourning where they depend on the contact they organize with melancholia, Jukic proposes a critical reading of Jacques Derrida's assemblage of mourning and economy in Specters of Marx: the State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International. Given the fact that melancholia in Freud calls into question what psychoanalysis wants to define as economy, yet is conspicuously absent from Derrida's otherwise Freudian configuration of the work-and-economy of mourning in his book on Marx, Jukic addresses Freud's approach to work in "Trauer und Melancholie" and proposes that work in Marx be analyzed not against mourning but against Freudian and, more importantly still, pre-Freudian configurations of melancholia. Adapted from the source document.

The author is critical of the introduction of the euro from the point of view of national & political economy. His criticism is based on four assumptions. The first is that the introduction of the euro gives rise to certain legal concerns. Some countries had not met the criteria for the introduction of the euro, yet it was introduced, which means that the European parliament & the national governments & their parliaments no longer respect the due process of law. The second is that the foreign debt, which amounts to 120% of GNP, is impossible to repay in those democracies that are not in the position to impose austerity measures that would include several legislatures. The third criticism is based on the fact that European countries are at different levels of development, which makes the monetary union much too vulnerable. The fourth criticism refers to the fact that common currency means common policy, &, consequently, the end of nation-states in Europe. Croatia may join the EU, but this would pose a challenge to its national sovereignty. 2 Tables. Adapted from the source document.

The author applies a variant of the common pool resources theory to the problem of public spending under the coalition governments elected by proportional representation. The claim is that proportional representation produces cabinets with a large number of parties, and that a large number of parties brings about higher public spending (measured by budget deficit and public debt). The author constructs and deploys the concept of budgetary dilemma to the effect that, absent institutional constraints, public spending results in expansionary fiscal policy. In the second part, the author empirically tests the budgetary dilemma in two postcommunist democracies - Serbia and Croatia, which in 2000-2013 had cabinets with a large number of actors and increasing public spending. The analysis shows a statistically unreliable predictive capacity of the main independent variable - the number of parties in the cabinet. Statistical analysis is followed by several illustrations of the budgetary dilemma. Adapted from the source document.

The debtors' crisis at the end of the 20th century is a hard reality facing transitional countries (and others as well). However, to borrow or not to borrow is a false dilemma. In the situation when in most transitional countries, the local accumulation is insufficient for financing economic development & completing the transitional process, the only alternative is borrowing. This is particularly unavoidable when the influx of foreign capital via direct investments is meager. This is also true for the Republic of Croatia, in which the level of direct investments is, for the time being, very modest. Borrowing, particularly from foreign countries, calls for a high degree of caution, a well-thought out approach to borrowing, & the rational use of the loans. 5 Tables, 14 References. Adapted from the source document.

The US economy is facing the first big financial crisis in the 21st century. The author points out that the current crisis is much different from the previous ones by its characteristics, causes, consequences it produces on the world economy & international financial system in particular. The problems that were noticeable in the US loan market in the second half of 2007, which have escalated into a crisis of the financial system in 2008 creating instability in the world financial markets, were mostly caused by the losses on the American real estate market. For the fact that the highly integrated world economy has enabled rapidly & easily transmission the effects of real & monetary trends, reducing, on the other hand, the countries' prospects to protect their economies & populations from their effects it is evident that the way the US manages its financial system has the exceptional significance beyond USA, too. As the increasing number of countries is facing with direct or indirect effects of the current crisis it is in the interest of all those that undertaking actions to stop further negative repercussions on their national economies & ensure global economy growth. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

The author explores the evolution, functioning, similarities & differences between the original Bretton Woods international monetary system that operated from 1945 to 1973 & the present modified institution, which is symbolically called Bretton Woods 2 System. The existing international financial architecture keeps on being based on the hegemony of the US dollar, as a dominant reserve currency. However, in spite of the fact that in most cases the present international monetary system implies the regime of flexible foreign exchanges rates, a characteristic of this system is that many countries in different degrees refuse to accept the appreciation of their national currencies to the US dollar. At the same time, the domination of the USA, the most indebted country in the world, is becoming a very serious threat to its sustainability. However, as the author concludes, the creators of the international monetary system, being aware how serious could be the consequences of its cessation, endeavor to extend its operation accepting less expensive consequences of keeping it alive. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

The author of the following study presents the institution of surety as it is regulated in Romanian civil law. The notion of surety (in the sense of the person offering the guarantee) is presented, as well as the legal nature of the surety contract, and its defining characteristic of an accessory guarantee as well as the conclusion of the contract and the formal and material requirements for its validity. In the following, the author presents the various types of surety regulated in Romanian civil law. Regarding the effects of the surety contract the study presents the legal consequences specifically regulated in Romania, which arise when the debtor fails to respect his obligations. In the final part of the study, the reasons for the cessation of the effects of the surety contract, are presented, with special emphasis on the death of the surety (natural person), which, contrary to the apparent meaning of the legal text, does not result in the cancellation of any debt owed by the deceased surety in virtue of the surety contract. This debt shall remain due as part of the surety's estate.

Upravljanje financijskim tokovima iziskuje odgovarajuću povezanost deviznih rezervi, inozemnog zaduživanja i kontrole kapitala. Ove politike smatraju se alatom za predviđanje naglih zastoja (SS). Stoga se u ovoj analizi utvrđuje pojavljivanje naglih zastoja / prekida financijskih tokova na uzorku od 200 zemalja u periodu od 1985. - 2019. godine. Vjerojatnost SS-a određuje se pomoću logit modela. Rezultati ukazuju na činjenicu da efektivno upravljanje smanjuje vjerojatnost naglih zastoja. Provedena je analiza utjecaja rizika prelijevanja na bruto domaći proizvod, potrošnju, investicije i nezaposlenost. Rezultati pokazuju štetne utjecaje na ove makroekonomske varijable. Nalazi potvrđuju da zemlje sa zadovoljavajućom razinom deviznih rezervi, malim inozemnim zaduživanjem i koje započinju s kontrolom kapitala prije pojave naglih zastoja financijskih tokova manje pogađa rizik prelijevanja nego li gospodarstva u nastajanju, jer su znatno ranjivija od bogatih gospodarstava. ; Managing capital flows needs an appropriate association of foreign exchange reserves, foreign borrowing, and capital control. These policies are considered as a tool to predict sudden stops (SS). Consequently, this analysis identifies the occurrences of SS for a sample of 200 countries within the period 1985 - 2019. The probability of SS is determined through a logit model. Results suggest that effective management reduces the probability of sudden stops. A spillover risk influence analysis was conducted on the gross domestic product, consumption, investment, and unemployment. The results show harmful impacts on these macroeconomic variables. The findings demonstrate that countries with a satisfactory level of exchange foreign reserves, small foreign borrowing, and initiating capital controls before the occurrence of SS, are less touched by the spillover risk than emergent economies which are more vulnerable than rich economies.

Rad smjera pokazati značaj i relevantnost poststrukturalnog pogleda na ekonomiju kako trasiranjem sada već općih konceptualnih mjesta tog pristupa tako i prakticiranjem te teorijske pozicije u konkretnoj analizi zaduženosti financijskog sustava. Kratkotrajna i lokalizirana, ali značajna tradicija poststrukturalnog problematiziranja kategorije ekonomije ovdje se prezentira preko tri ključne discipline – governmentality studies, ekonomske sociologije i međunarodne političke ekonomije. Nakon opisa dometa i ograničenja tih disciplina ulazimo u drugi dio rada gdje analiziramo aparaturu standardifikacije i validacije kreditnog rizika kod banaka, točnije Basel kapitalne uvjete i prakse sekuritizacije. Pružanjem genealogije tih tehnika interpretiramo domenu financija kao diskurzivni prostor (re)artikuliran preko skupa normaliziranih mehanizama i praksi koji zajednički tvore racionalnost vladanja. Na taj način ukazujemo na važnost performativnih, simboličkih, relacijskih, decentriranih i kontingentnih momenata u kritičkom poimanju (financijske) ekonomije, odnosno pokazujemo da kritika ekonomije ne mora nužno biti organizirana i provedena kroz matricu kapital – klasa – ideologija. ; This paper aims to demonstrate the significance and relevance of the poststructural gaze towards the economy by both tracing the conceptual commonplaces of this approach as well as practicing this theoretical position in the concrete analysis of indebtedness of the financial system. A brief and localized, but nonetheless significant tradition of the poststructural problematizing of the category of economy is here presented through three key disciplines: governmentality studies, economic sociology and international political economy. After portraying the contributions and limitations of those disciplines, the second part of the paper analyzes the apparatus of standardification and validification of credit risk within banks, namely the Basel Capital Accord and practices of securitisation. By offering a genealogy of those techniques, we interpret finance as a discursive space (re)articulated through an aggregate of normalized mechanisms and practices which collectively form a rationality of governance. In this way, we point out the importance of performative, symbolic, relational, decentered and contingent moments in the critical conception of (financial) economy, as well as show that the critique of economy does not necessarily have to be organized and conducted through the capital – class – ideology matrix.