Government Debt Indicators:Understanding the Data

Debra Bloch () and Falilou Fall
Additional contact information
Debra Bloch: Economics Department, Organisation for Economic, Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2, rue André Pascal 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France

Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), 2016, vol. 07, issue 01, 1-28

Abstract: There is no single “best” indicator for analyzing general government debt. This paper examines the various issues in defining and measuring debt, and explores other data which could be useful, both within and beyond the general government debt concept, to better track and analyze fiscal risks and sustainability issues. Measures from the broadest view of debt — gross financial liabilities — to the most comprehensive accounting of asset and liability positions — net worth — are all helpful metrics. Narrower data on specific issues such as future pension liabilities, government guarantees and debt composition are useful indicators as well. Better data reporting, including more complete metadata and broader data collection are needed to allow for an arsenal of comparable debt concepts to better anticipate future fiscal pressures.

Keywords: Public debt; general government accounts; net worth; contingent liabilities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1793993316500022
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
Working Paper: Government debt indicators: Understanding the data (2015)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:jicepx:v:07:y:2016:i:01:n:s1793993316500022

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S1793993316500022

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP) is currently edited by Ramkishen S. Rajan

More articles in Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().