sovereign debt
Government owes money
Sovereign debt is money owed by a national government, typically in the form of bonds issued to domestic or foreign investors.
Unlike corporate or personal debt, sovereign debt carries unique risks because governments can theoretically print money to pay obligations or, in extreme cases, simply refuse to pay.
When analysts worry about a country's sovereign debt, they're questioning whether that government can meet its financial obligations.
Greece's sovereign debt crisis threatened to destabilize the entire eurozone.
- treasury bondsGovernment-issued debt securities
- credit default swapContract paying if bonds fail
- credit ratingAssigned measure of borrower reliability
- interest ratesPrice paid for borrowing
- fiscal policyState spending and taxation
austerity measures · central bank · emerging markets · bond market · junk bonds · currency devaluation · fire sale · government bonds · contagion · creditors · downgrade · monetary policy · ratings · euro · bonds · lenders · obligations · fiscal
- financebank, CFO, banks, controller, finance
- economic policymonetary policy, tax policy, fiscal discipline, fiscal stimulus, fiscal restraint
- investingstocks, stock, bonds, investing, investor
- fiscal crisesbudget crisis, fiscal crisis, fiscal emergency, budget deficit, government shutdown
- fixed incomebonds, treasuries, T-bills, CDs, treasury bonds
- government debttreasury bonds, government bonds, war bonds, savings bonds, federal loans
debt, debts, sovereignty, sovereign, indebted, debtor, indebtedness, debtors, debenture