Brunei, Kuwait, Turkmenistan: These countries have “no” public debt

The relationship between Public debt Contracted by a country, the wealth generated within it, or rather its GDP, is an indicator often used to describe the economic situation of a country, and should not be confused with the deficit, which instead represents the share of expenditures covered by the country. Creating debt. But those who fail to keep these returns low are not always in crisis or doomed to bankruptcy, as the US case shows.

Clearly, the countries with the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios are those with very little expenditure flooding state coffers, such as pensions, welfare states, healthcare and education. In 2022, the country with the lowest score ever was the country Brunei, a sultanate located in Southeast Asia: only 2%. Close the Kuwait, in the Middle East, which stops at 2.9%. the third Turkmenistan By 5%. The economies of these three countries are completely dependent on hydrocarbons. The first two countries export large quantities of oil, while Turkmenistan derives its wealth from the gas it extracts and resells abroad. Revenues that allow the governments in question not to have to raise taxes – which in some cases do not exist – on citizens. From the podium comes the Tuvalu archipelago, a small country in the Pacific Ocean that lives by fishing.

However, higher-than-average public debt can pose a risk to the country’s fiscal strength. This is the case for example GreeceWhich led to a rise in public debt in Europe to 192% of GDP. Athens has experienced a period of deep crisis for more than a decade, although macroeconomic data now reflect a trend that in the 2000s threatened to drag the European Union down with it.

to’Italy It is in the penultimate position in Europe, behind Greece, and ranked 155th in the world, and fourth from last, with a rate of 143.5%, equivalent to more than two and a half billion euros. Italian debt has been expanding for some time, and therefore this cannot be attributed to the policies of the current government: unsatisfactory growth rates in the past, interest increases, excessive public spending and the pandemic have contributed to the increase in stable debt.