The Government Debt Iceberg

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagadeesh Gokhale
2017 ◽  
Vol 241 ◽  
pp. R13-R32
Author(s):  
Michael McMahon

A defining feature of (at least) the last three general elections has been the emphasis placed on each political party's fiscal credibility and their ability to deliver “sound public finances”. Applying the logic of household book-keeping, balancing the fiscal budget is said to capture such soundness. There is, however, little evidence that a balanced budget is necessarily sound. Instead, the evolution of public finances depends on (1) both the fiscal choices made on the level of spending and taxation, (2) the underlying growth of the economy which depends on far more than the fiscal decisions, and (3) interest rates on government debt and the financing needs of the government. As the economic situation changes, so too does the likely path of debt to GDP and hence the possible fiscal options open to a country. Sticking to the soundbite of “sound finances” has often distracted from the underlying menu of political choices and as such is a disruptive narrative in UK economics today.


2020 ◽  
Vol 006 (02) ◽  
pp. 325-330
Author(s):  
Nugroho Suryo Bintoro

The growth of central government debt in Indonesia is the subject of endless discussion for both economists and experts in other fields. Although the government uses this debt in order to increase Indonesia's competence through infrastructure development, there are problems in the form of previous accumulated debts. This accumulative debt is known as the concept of “debt stock” which is assessed through Indonesia's fiscal resilience (APBN) to measure the repayment capacity of new debts that will be made in the future. This ability will be seen using long-term data from 1990 to 2016 which is reflected in the variables of central government debt, government spending and revenue so that it is known that Indonesia's central government debt can still be said to be sustainable and the Indonesian government should prioritize productive expenditures in order to increase government revenues.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1454-1483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noritaka Maebayashi ◽  
Takeo Hori ◽  
Koichi Futagami

We construct an endogenous growth model that includes productive public capital and government debt. We assume that the government debt-to-GDP ratio is gradually adjusted to a target level, reflecting the permanent commitment rules in the Stability and Growth Pact or the Maastricht Treaty in the European Union (i.e., the well-known 60% rule). These rules affect government borrowing and public investment. Here, we examine the welfare implications of the permanent commitment rules. We find that fiscal consolidation based on the rules improves social welfare. Moreover, the improvement in welfare accelerates as fiscal consolidation progresses more rapidly. Last, we also discuss and derive the optimal long-run debt-to-GDP ratio.


2021 ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
Rob Kitchin

This chapter imagines a conversation between two senior civil servants when they realize that the Irish government has lost 3.6 billion euros through a spreadsheet error. The Assistant Secretary of the Department of Finance reports to the General Secretary that the accountant was not sure how to classify a loan to the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) from the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). They had assumed that it might be adjusted for elsewhere in the General Government Debt calculations, but it was not. As such, the government debt appears twice in the national accounts, once as an asset for the NTMA and once as a liability for the HFA. The General Secretary then asks why the data entry error was not picked up. The Assistant Secretary answers that everybody assumed that somebody else had dealt with it. The accounts got returned, nobody spotted the mistake, and everyone moved onto to other tasks.


Significance At its first meeting of 2017, on January 10-11, the COPOM reduced the benchmark Selic interest rate to 13%. The 75-basis-point (bp) rate cut decision, the largest in nearly five years, accelerated the monetary easing cycle that started in October 2016. Economic recession has been relieving inflationary pressures and opening room for more intense cuts in interest rates. Impacts Further reductions of interest rates may contribute to controlling government debt. Private debt renegotiations at lower interest rates may facilitate a recovery in domestic demand and output. Any positive effects of monetary policy on activity may help contain popular dissatisfaction with the government.


2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Poast

AbstractWar is expensive—troops must be equipped and weapons must be procured. When the enormous borrowing requirements of war make the sovereigns' credibility problem more difficult, central banks enhance a government's ability to borrow. By being the sole direct purchaser of government debt, the central bank increases the effective punishment that can be imposed on the government for defaulting on the marginal lender. This increases lenders' confidence that the government will be punished in case of default, making lenders willing to purchase the debt at a lower rate of interest. The sovereign, dependent on the low borrowing costs offered by the central bank, has an incentive to retain the bank. Data covering the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries reveal that possessing a central bank lowers the sovereign's borrowing costs, particularly during times of war.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuliia Nehoda ◽  

The securities market is a powerful platform to accumulate capitals for further investment in favor of structural reconstruction of economy, increasing population welfare level at the cost of fund financial instrument holding. As one of financial instruments the government debt securities gained widespread use as reliable, easy-to-use and readily obtainable financial assets. The place of bonds of domestic government loan in the formation of Ukraine’s public debt and financing of the state budget deficit is highlighted in the article. The modern statistics confirms the safety and viability for the use of internal government debt securities, and the author in made research proves significant increase of amounts attracted to budget financial fund from Ukrainian domestic government bonds settlement. The article systemizes the data on main indicators of the domestic market of Ukrainian domestic government bonds, determines the portfolio structure on the basis of ownership and describes ways to expand range of potential investors, for example, by involving physical entities. Several banks – primary dealers were chosen to analyze the purchase terms of Ukrainian domestic government bonds for citizens of Ukraine on the primary market. The directions of developments of domestic internal bet market was determined, and they are to strengthen communication with fund market participants, to concentrate liquidity in certain instruments, to protect investors multilateral trading systems, to make pricing transparent on the Ukrainian domestic government bonds market, to arrange auctions regularly, diversification of foreign currency debt structure portfolio etc. The well-structured process of Ukrainian domestic government bonds emission in the part of public debts management strategy will allow to hold investors with such investment time frame interested to obtain instruments in the mid-run.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40
Author(s):  
Kristina Matuzevičiūtė ◽  
Kristina Montvilaitė ◽  
Dovilė Ruplienė

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