Global sovereign debt to reach $50 trln by year-end: S&P

S&P Global Ratings said it expects commercial debt stock of the sovereigns under coverage to reach $50 trillion by the end of 2019.

“We project that the sovereigns we rate will borrow an equivalent of $7.78 trillion from long-term commercial sources in 2019--roughly 3 percent higher than in 2018,” the firm said in its annual forecast on Thursday.

The rise in the total debt stock to $50 trillion would be a 6 percent rise on last year having been partly exacerbated by exchange rate swings, it said.

Some 70 percent, or $5.5 trillion, of gross borrowing will be to refinance maturing long-term debt, resulting in an estimated net borrowing requirement of about $2.3 trillion.

The United States and Japan will remain the largest borrowers globally, the report added.