This chapter focuses on the 1876 default of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent creation of the Council for the Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt by the representatives of foreign bondholders. It elaborates on the relationship between the Ottoman government and the executive organ of the international financial control from a political economy perspective. It shows that the extent and the success of foreign control were driven by the interaction between global politics and domestic political and fiscal institutions. The enforcement by foreign creditors was effective in improving the creditworthiness of the Porte because the Ottoman government was willing and able to cooperate in order to help contain local powerholders and provide access to cheap foreign capital at the same time
