Here are ” Sovereign debt as a percentage of GDP “figures for various countries , as provided by Times of India ( July 15 , 2011 ) :
- Japan …………………. 220 %
- Greece ……………….. 142 %
- Italy …………………….. 119 %
- Russia ………………….. 99 %
- Ireland ………………… 96.1 %
- USA ………………………… 91.6 %
- France …………………….. 84.3 %
- Canada …………………… 84 %
- Portugal …………………… 83.3 %
- Germany ………………… 80 %
- UK ……………………………. 77.2 %
- India ……………………….. 69.2 %
- Brazil …………………………66.1 %
- Spain ………………………….60.1 %
- Taiwan ……………………… 39.7 %
- S.Korea ………………………30.9 %
- S.Africa ……………………….35.7 %
- China ………………………. 17.7 %
Greece just managed to avoid a default of re-payments to its private creditors by getting them to ” agree “ to write-off 59 % of the debt !
Greece might have escaped going bankrupt by the skin of its teeth
Question is :
Will others be equally lucky ? Will the world see a financial meltdown ? Or , is it only a question of when ?
Lenders , beware ! By lending recklessly, you have become, the enemy # 1
