Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico has finalized two out of six total debt restructuring agreements to date. Through this restructuring process, Puerto Rico's bonds are replaced by bonds with new repayment terms. Public debt was 93 percent of Gross National Product in fiscal year 2016, the most recent fiscal year for which audited financial statements were available. Puerto Rico's general revenue decreased by 11 percent and longstanding deficits persisted during this period. Puerto Rico's capacity for debt repayment depends primarily on the outcomes of the ongoing debt restructuring process and its ability to generate sustained economic growth. While federal hurricane recovery grants are likely to stimulate the economy in the short term, it is unclear whether the resulting economic benefits will be sustainable.
United States Virgin Islands (USVI): USVI has not been able to access capital markets at favorable interest rates since early 2017 and it has not issued any new bonds. It has, however, received federal loans for hurricane recovery, which may contribute to its overall debt burden if they are not forgiven. Public debt decreased from 72 to 68 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between fiscal years 2015 and 2016, the most recent year for which audited data were available. While general revenue increased by 40 percent during this time period, longstanding deficits persisted. USVI's continued ability to repay public debt depends primarily on whether it can access capital markets at favorable rates in the future, its ability to create economic growth, and its ability to address its pension liabilities and the pending insolvency of its public pension system.
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American Samoa: American Samoa's public debt increased from 13 to 19 percent of GDP between fiscal years 2015 and 2017. This increase was due largely to a single bond issued in early 2016 to fund various infrastructure projects. General revenue fluctuated during this period and the territory had a deficit in 2017. The territory continues to face fiscal risks that may affect repayment of public debt, such as a reliance on the tuna canning and processing industry and significant pension liabilities.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI): CNMI has not issued any new debt since fiscal year 2007, and as such, public debt decreased from 16 to 8 percent of GDP between fiscal years 2015 and 2017. During this period, CNMI's general revenue increased by 48 percent and it operated with a surplus. CNMI's potential labor shortages due to federal restrictions on foreign workers have been mitigated. However, pension liabilities and future reductions in revenue from recent typhoons present fiscal risks that may affect repayment of public debt in the future.
Guam: Guam's public debt increased by 6 percent between fiscal years 2015 and 2017, growing from 44 to 45 percent of GDP. New debt has primarily been used to refinance existing debt and fund infrastructure projects. Guam's general revenue increased by 12 percent during this period and it operated with a surplus. Pension liabilities continue to present a fiscal risk that may affect repayment of public debt in the future.
In June 2016, Congress passed and the President signed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). It contains a provision for GAO to review the public debt of each of the five territories every two years. GAO issued the first report on the territories' public debt in October 2017, reporting on trends in public debt between fiscal years 2005 and 2015.
In this report, for each U.S. territory, GAO updates (1) trends in public debt, its composition, and drivers; (2) trends in revenue and its composition, and overall financial condition; and (3) what is known about the ability to repay public debt.
In commenting on a draft of this report, the governments of Puerto Rico and Guam raised concerns about some aspects of the analysis of their debt. GAO maintains its analysis is correct, as discussed in the report.
There are six datasets on Fiscal Data which include the national debt, which is referred to as Total Public Debt Outstanding (TPDO). TPDO is the sum of Debt Held by the Public and Intragovernmental (Intragov) Holdings. Some datasets include debt issued by the Federal Financing Bank (FFB). The datasets listed below only include debt issued by the Treasury Department. The list below provides information on where there are differences in debt calculations related to the national debt.
Daily Treasury Statement (DTS) contains Debt Held by the Public and Intragov Holdings, but does not aggregate these two categories into TPDO. In this dataset, Intragov Holdings includes debt issued by the FFB. Dollar values for Debt Held by the Public and Intragov Holdings are rounded in millions to cohere with other data in the dataset. Please note that the published reports on the Fiscal Service site contain TPDO values.
Monthly Statement of the Public Debt (MSPD) contains TPDO, as well as a breakout of Debt Held by the Public and Intragov Holdings. In this dataset, Intragov Holdings includes debt issued by the FFB. Dollar values are rounded in millions to cohere with other data in the dataset.
Schedules of Federal Debt contains Debt Held by the Public and Intragov Holdings, but does not aggregate these two categories into TPDO. In this dataset, Intragov Holdings do not include debt issued by the FFB. Dollar values are rounded in millions to cohere with other data in the dataset.
Debt broken out by intragovernmental holdings and debt held by the public has not always been provided. Where this occurred, the dataset shows a value of $0.00 instead of a null value. Debt held by the public and intragovernmental holdings data is available yearly (on a fiscal basis) from 9/30/1997 through 9/30/2001, monthly from 9/30/2001 through 3/31/2005, and daily from 4/4/2005 to today. Some columns in this dataset overlap with the Monthly Statement of the Public Debt (MSPD), Monthly Treasury Statement (MTS), Daily Treasury Statement (DTS), and Schedules of Federal Debt datasets. Debt issued by the Federal Financing Bank (FFB) is included in the intragovernmental holdings in the Debt to the Penny dataset, but not in the Schedules of Federal Debt dataset because it is not debt managed by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The difference between these datasets is equal to the amount of debt issued by the FFB.
IRS has prepared frequently asked questions (FAQs) to address debtor inquiries regarding this topic. These are available online at -deductions/2021-child-tax-credit-and-advance-child-tax-credit-payments-topic-g-receiving-advance-child-tax-credit-payments.
TOP, which collects delinquent federal and state debts, has prepared the following frequently asked questions (FAQs) to address debtor inquiries regarding whether and to what extent the advance payments of the Recovery Rebate Credit (i.e., the Economic Impact Payments) can be offset.
Ballooning public debt due to the COVID-19 crisis and an imbalanced recovery has led to post-pandemic debt vulnerability and fiscal sustainability challenges. Limited policy space will require a re-think of the existing fiscal framework and the formulation of alternative debt management strategies.
Cohosted by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Korea Development Institute (KDI), this virtual conference featured new research on public debt management and fiscal sustainability in the post COVID-19 era, with a focus on Asia and the Pacific.
A Post Pandemic Fiscal Policy in Emerging Economies: reconciling inclusive growth with debt sustainability (the case of Indonesia) Presenter: M. Chatib Basri, University of Indonesia
To borrow or not: Empirical evidence from public debt sustainability of PakistanPresenter: Wajid Islam, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics;Junaid Ahmed, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics
Leveraging green bonds to address debt sustainability and economic recovery in South Asia: Lessons from EU and ASEAN Countries Discussant: Dina Azhgaliyeva, Research Fellow, Asian Development Bank Institute
Leveraging green bonds to address debt sustainability and economic recovery in South Asia: Lessons from EU and ASEAN Countries Discussant: Falendra Kumar, University of Jammu, India Tapas Sudan, SMVD University, India
COVID-19 and its economic fallout are devastating to public balance sheets. Countries are faced with additional spending needs to finance the immediate health response, provide support to households and firms, and invest in the recovery once the pandemic is under control. At the same time, revenues are collapsing, particularly for commodity exporters and tourism and other services-dependent countries. Global public debt stocks are projected to jump by 13 percentage points of gross world product in just one year, from 83 to 96 per cent (IMF Fiscal Monitor, 2020). The IMF expects fiscal balances to turn sharply negative in developing countries, to -9.1 and -5.7 per cent of GDP in middle-income and low-income countries, respectively.
Vast additional public borrowing will have to be financed in a context of significant capital outflows from developing countries and rising financing costs. Non-resident portfolio outflows from emerging market countries amounted to almost $100 billion since 21 January (IIF, 2020). Despite near zero global interest rates, borrowing costs for most developing countries have risen: credit spreads on emerging market sovereign bonds more than doubled from the beginning of the year to April, widening to more than 600bps. Over 100 countries have asked the IMF for emergency funding from its Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). 2ff7e9595c
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