Global debt rises $32 trillion in 2020 amid Covid pandemic: Moody's

The recovery in global economy from Covid pandemic's aftermath will be staggered with the US leading the recovery, Moody's said

The Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath has pushed the global debt higher by $32 trillion in 2020 to $290.6 trillion led by government and non-financial corporate debt, and will continue to rise in 2021, said a latest release by Moody's Investor Service (Moody's). Persistent decline in productivity growth, it believes, poses medium-term challenges to debt sustainability with Africa and the Caribbean being the two most vulnerable regions in the emerging markets (EMs).

“Despite an uptick in defaults, policy support prevented a debt crisis in emerging markets, but the pandemic and its aftermath will challenge their debt-servicing capacity. Advanced economies have