Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The global debt level at private and public sector is expected to surge significantly in the first half of 2020 due to uncertain financial conditions and the reduction of the central bank's policy rate around the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said a study.
With an increase in the debt burden of both developed and emerging economies, the global debt level accounted for more than twice of the global GDP, said a report from GlobalData.
The data and analytics company said that stimulus packages and cheaper loans for small businesses are expected to elevate both government and private sector debts.
Countries that will be majorly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak are those that had a high level of public debt in 2019 such as Japan (237.4% of GDP), the US (108.9%), Italy (134.7%) and Greece (179.2%).
In the first three quarters of 2019, 30 of the 43 nations that have made their data available have a private debt of more than 100% of the GDP with Luxembourg having the highest at 393.5%.
Shalin Vora, Economic Research Analyst at GlobalData said: "A rise in unplanned government expenditure in the form of high stimulus packages will widen the budget deficit and governments will have to curtail productive investments as the additional amount is spent on paying off the interest on the debt. On the other hand, excessive private debt, especially during the pandemic, may increase the inability to pay off the loans and lead to a rise in defau...................... To view our full article Click here
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