Government Debt
A Government Debt is a debt owed by a central government.
- AKA: Public Debt, Sovereign Debt, National Debt.
- Context:
- It can be associated to a Government Debt w.r.t. GDP or per Capita Government Debt.
- It can range from being a Total Government Debt to being a Net Government Debt.
- It can range from being a Internally-Held Government Debt to being a Externally-Held Government Debt.
- It can range from being a National Government Debt to being a Local Government Debt.
- …
- Example(s):
- Counter-Example(s):
- See: External Debt, Local Government Debt, Government Budget Deficit, Government Bond, Debt-to-GDP Measure.
References
2016
- (Wikipedia, 2016) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_debt Retrieved:2016-5-2.
- Government debt (also known as public debt, national debt and sovereign debt) is the debt owed by a central government. (In federal states, "government debt" may also refer to the debt of a state or provincial, municipal or local government.) By contrast, the annual “government deficit” refers to the difference between government receipts and spending in a single year, that is, the increase of debt over a particular year. Government debt is one method of financing government operations, but it is not the only method. Governments can also create money to monetize their debts, thereby removing the need to pay interest. This practice reduces government interest costs rather than truly canceling government debt, [1] but can result in hyperinflation if used unsparingly. Governments usually borrow by issuing securities, government bonds and bills. Less creditworthy countries sometimes borrow directly from a supranational organization (e.g. the World Bank) or international financial institutions.
As the government draws its income from much of the population, government debt is an indirect debt of the taxpayers. Government debt can be categorized as internal debt (owed to lenders within the country) and external debt (owed to foreign lenders). Another common division of government debt is by duration until repayment is due. Short term debt is generally considered to be for one year or less, long term is for more than ten years. Medium term debt falls between these two boundaries. A broader definition of government debt may consider all government liabilities, including future pension payments and payments for goods and services the government has contracted but not yet paid.
- Government debt (also known as public debt, national debt and sovereign debt) is the debt owed by a central government. (In federal states, "government debt" may also refer to the debt of a state or provincial, municipal or local government.) By contrast, the annual “government deficit” refers to the difference between government receipts and spending in a single year, that is, the increase of debt over a particular year. Government debt is one method of financing government operations, but it is not the only method. Governments can also create money to monetize their debts, thereby removing the need to pay interest. This practice reduces government interest costs rather than truly canceling government debt, [1] but can result in hyperinflation if used unsparingly. Governments usually borrow by issuing securities, government bonds and bills. Less creditworthy countries sometimes borrow directly from a supranational organization (e.g. the World Bank) or international financial institutions.
- ↑ The Economics of Money, Banking, and the Financial Markets 7ed, Frederic S. Mishkin
2015
- (Wikipedia, 2015) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_public_debt Retrieved:2015-11-2.
- This is a list of countries by public debt to GDP ratio as listed by Eurostat for the EU and by CIA's World Factbook 2012 for the rest of the world. It is the cumulative total of all government borrowings less repayments that are denominated in a country's home currency.
- Gross government debt is the most relevant data for discussions of government default and debt ceilings. It is different from external debt, which includes the foreign currency liabilities of non-government entities. Both are not mutually exclusive.
The figures here are represented as a percentage of annual gross domestic product. The public debt relative information provided by national sources (CIA) is not always objective and true, given the fact that there is no independent research in these matters. Note that net debt figures are included where gross debt figures are unavailable in the CIA set.