According to Standard & Poor’s, one of the three most influential rating agencies, 40% of world sovereign debt belongs to monarchies. At the same time, the agency focuses on the difference between absolute monarchs, which have a significant influence on politics in their countries, and constitutional monarchs, playing a symbolic role of the head of state.
All absolute monarchies are concentrated in the Arab world, and their public debt is less than 1% of the total. However, constitutional monarchies, as a rule, have higher credit ratings based on increasing the stability and predictability of their policies.
Government debt consists of debt held by the central government, regional and local authorities, state enterprises and organizations.
Here's what it looks like ranking of states with the largest public debt.
5. Absolute monarchies
They account for 0.4% of the global public debt. This reflects the high budgetary performance of countries. They do not need to make large borrowings from outside. Of absolute monarchies, the best ratings (“AA”) are Qatar and emirate Abu Dhabi.
4. Constitutional monarchies
Norway, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Denmark make up the majority of debtor kingdoms (5.9% of public debt). Spain It has a satisfactory credit rating (“BBB”), all other countries have the highest (“AAA”).
3. Member States of the British Commonwealth of Nations
The three leaders in world public debt 2015 include countries under the protectorate of Queen Elizabeth II. She is the head of more than a dozen countries within the Commonwealth - including Great Britain, Of Canada, Bahamas and Papua new guinea. The total public debt of these states amounted to 8.2%. Wherein Great Britain, Canada and Australia have a long-term credit rating of “AAA”, according to Standard & Poor’s.
2. Japan
Tokyo's national debt is $ 11 trillion, which is 25.4% of the total debt or 246.14% of GDP. Since the early 1990s Japan experiencing continuous stagnation. The policy pursued by the Japanese government to overcome the crisis only increases the level of debt. Current government Japan spends almost half of the total tax revenue to pay off a huge debt. Despite this, the yield on 10-year Japanese bonds remains at a surprisingly low level, up to 1%.
1. Non-monarchical states
These countries account for 60.2% of the global public debt. The largest debtor is Greece. Its debt as a percentage of GDP is 172.73%. In July 2015, the IMF issued a report on the debt sustainability of Greece. It states that due to the weakening of policies over the past year and the recent deterioration of the domestic macroeconomic and financial environment, Greek public debt has become very volatile. Slightly less public debt Italy - 133.7% of GDP. Russia it is not included in the top 20 countries with the largest public debt; at the beginning of 2015, the external debt of the state amounted to $ 41 billion, excluding debts of state companies, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and banks.