LONDON: Global public debt surged to a record $92 trillion in 2022 as governments borrowed to counter crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, with the burden being felt acutely by developing countries, a UN report said.
Domestic and external debt worldwide has increased more than five times in the last two decades, outstripping the rate of economic growth, with gross domestic product only tripling since 2002, according to the Wednesday report, released in the run up to a G20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting on July 14-18.
“Markets may seem not be suffering — yet. But people are,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters. “Some of the poorest countries in the world are being forced into a choice between servicing their debt, or serving their people.”
