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Module 6: Contingent Liabilities and “Hidden Debt”

This Workshop will focus on payment obligations for which a government may be responsible if a specific event takes place. These contingent liabilities can be found—or be "hidden"—in many areas of public policy, from infrastructure projects and state-owned enterprises to disaster relief, pension systems and private banks. At times, their value can be a large share of the reported public debt, and their very existence can depress the credit rating of sovereign bonds (even more so when there is uncertainty around their reporting). For that reason, the workshop will emphasize best-practices in the identification, quantification, monitoring, mitigation, pricing, recording, and disclosure of contingent liabilities. It will also provide hands-on exercises to illustrate methods to approach valuation under conditions of uncertainty and incomplete information.