government debt
Also known as public debt, national debt, sovereign debt
total amount of debt owed to lenders by a government/state
AI overview
Government debt is the total amount of money that a government owes to lenders, which it has borrowed to pay for expenses like infrastructure, defense, and social programs. It matters because governments must eventually repay this debt, which can affect how much money they have available for other priorities and may influence economic conditions like interest rates and inflation.
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Article
Share of government expenditure going to interest payments
A country's gross government debt (also called public debt or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occurs when a government's expenditures exceed revenues. Government debt may be owed to domestic residents, as well as to foreign residents. If owed to foreign residents, that quantity is included in the country's external debt.