To read this full article you need to be subscribed to Institutional Real Estate Americas
Sovereign debt and ratings trends
The United States (31 percent) and Japan (29 percent) are anticipated to account for 60 percent of the expected $6.8 trillion in borrowing by sovereign nations worldwide in 2017, followed by China (5 percent), Italy (4 percent) and France (3 percent), according to Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings. This dollar amount is a projected 4 percent ($315 billion) decline from 2016 in gross long-term commercial borrowing, in part because of fiscal consolidation; however, the reduction in borrowing primarily stems from exchange-rate movements.
In addition, sovereign debt levels continue to increase on an absolute basis.
“We project that total outstanding global sovereign commercial debt stock will rise during 2017 by almost $1 trillion to reach an all-time high of $44 trillion by the end of this year — up by 2.3 percent, at projected market exchange rates,” notes S&P Global Ratings.
Sovereign ratings in general continue to trend downward, with negative out
For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click Here.