We have also conducted two rounds of asset purchases that have more than tripled the size of the Fed’s balance sheet and changed its composition from short-term Treasuries to longer-term Treasuries and housing-related securities, mostly mortgagebacked securities. Many of these actions were taken at the height of the financial crisis and the ensuing deep recession.
External debt management focused on (a) reprofiling of the stock of official bilateral debt, (b) substituting concessional loans for non-concessional from international financial institutions, (c) pre-paying expensive loans and (d) liquidating short term liabilities. Debt ratio was thus reduced from 100 percent of GDP to 60 percent in five years time.