The 20 countries with the greatest public

debt
By Jos Santiago
Jul 16 2015
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Japan, the worlds most indebted nation, is struggling to emerge from over two
decades of stagnation. Greece, second in the list, is suffering a critical
economic crisis. According to the IMF.
Since the early 1990s Japan has experienced continuous stagnation.
Recently, policies put in place by the Government to tackle the crisis have
tended to push debt levels even higher. Currently, the Japanese Government
is spending almost half of its total tax revenue on tackling the enormous debt.
In spite of this, the yield on 10-year Japanese bonds remains at a surprisingly
low level, under 1%.
Greece has accumulated a massive debt. On 14 July 2015, the IMF released
a report addressing Greeces debt sustainability. The introduction in the report
gives an accurate image of the countrys situation:

Greeces public debt has become highly unsustainable. This is due to

the easing of policies during the last year, with the recent deterioration in
the domestic macroeconomic and financial environment because of the
closure of the banking system adding significantly to the adverse
dynamics.
The financing need through end-2018 is now estimated at 85bn and
debt is expected to peak at close to 200 percent of GDP in the next two
years, provided that there is an early agreement on a program. Greeces
debt can now only be made sustainable through debt relief measures
that go far beyond what Europe has been willing to consider so far.

Here are the 20 countries with the highest public debt:

Author: Jos Santiago, Senior Associate, Public Engagement at the World

Economic Forum.
Image: The Japanese national flag is seen near a monitor displaying the
exchange rate of the yen against the dollar REUTERS/Thomas Peter