## IMF Fiscal Monitor -- Debt: Use it Wisely -- October 2016

_Fiscal Monitor, October 5, 2016_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [IMF Fiscal Monitor -- Debt: Use it Wisely -- October 2016](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fm/issues/2016/12/31/debt-use-it-wisely)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/fm/issues/2016/12/31/debt-use-it-wisely/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/fm/issues/2016/12/31/debt-use-it-wisely/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/publications/fm/issues/2016/12/31/debt-use-it-wisely/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Published: October 5, 2016
- Series: Fiscal Monitor

---

### Overview
- Publication: International Monetary Fund, Fiscal Monitor, October 2016
- Chapter focus: "Debt: Use it Wisely"
- Scope: "Drawing on an expanded data set covering emerging markets and low-income countries as well as advanced economies, this chapter examines the extent and makeup of global debt and asks what role fiscal policy can play in facilitating the adjustment."
- Analytical approach: "The analytical framework explicitly models the interlinkages between private and public debt in analyzing the role of fiscal policy in the deleveraging process."
- Empirical material: "Country case studies provide useful insights on what fiscal policy should and should not do to facilitate deleveraging while minimizing the drag on the economy."

### Contents and structure (chapter-level)
- Front Matter
- Assumptions and Conventions
- Preface
- Executive Summary
- Chapter 1: Debt: Use it Wisely
  - Full Text
    - Introduction
    - How High Is Debt?
    - Why Does the Level of Debt Matter?
    - Fiscal Policy and Private Sector Deleveraging
    - Deleveraging in Practice: What Does History Teach Us?
    - Conclusion
  - Boxes
    - 1.1 China: What Do We Know about the General Government’s Balance Sheet?
    - 1.2 The Role of Fiscal Policy during Financial Recessions
    - 1.3 Brazil: Private Debt and the Strength of the Public Sector Balance Sheet
    - 1.4 Benefits of Targeted Fiscal Intervention during Times of Private Deleveraging
    - 1.5 How Much Do Financial Markets Value Government Balance Sheets?
  - Annex
    - Debt Data Set
    - Private and Public Debt and the Pace of the Recovery
    - Interlinkages between Public and Private Debt: Selected Summary of the Literature
    - Private Deleveraging and the Role of Fiscal Policy
    - Policies during Deleveraging Episodes
    - References
    - Methodological and Statistical Appendix
      - Data and Conventions
      - Fiscal Policy Assumptions
      - Definition and Coverage of Fiscal Data
      - Table A. Economy Groupings
      - Table B. Advanced Economies: Definition and Coverage of Fiscal Monitor Data
      - Table C. Emerging Market and Middle-Income Economies: Definition and Coverage of Fiscal Monitor Data
      - Table D. Low-Income Developing Countries: Definition and Coverage of Fiscal Monitor Data
      - Statistical of Tables
      - Country Abbreviations and Glossary

### Key empirical materials and indicators (as listed)
- Figures and thematic listings include:
  - Global Gross Debt
  - Gross Debt by Country Groups
  - Sectoral Changes in Debt
  - Advanced Economies: Debt Developments
  - Emerging Market Economies: Debt Developments
  - Low-Income Countries: Debt Developments
  - Debt Decomposition
  - Selected Advanced Economies: Current Deleveraging Episodes
  - Total Private Debt during Deleveraging Episodes
  - Selected Advanced Economies: Leverage
  - Public Debt in Normal and Financial Recessions
  - Europe: Estimated Capital Impact of Immediate Nonperforming Loan Disposal, Density Function
  - Contribution to Deleveraging
  - Macroeconomic Policies and Deleveraging
  - China and Other Emerging Market Economies: Estimates of Net Financial Worth at the End of 2015
  - Fiscal Policy and the Nature of the Recovery after Financial Crises
  - Change in Debt, 2005–15: Brazil versus Other Emerging Market Economies
  - Impact of Targeted Interventions in a Deleveraging Phase
  - Difference between Market-Implied and Accounting-Valued Net Worth, 2014
  - Median Evolution of Market-Implied Net Worth, 2012–15
  - Change in Market-Implied Expected Losses on Sovereign Debt, 2012–15
  - Annex Figure 1.1.1. Nonfinancial Private Sector Debt: Country Coverage

- Tables and annexes include:
  - Private Sector Deleveraging Episodes: Basic Facts
  - Selected Fiscal Policy Interventions during Deleveraging Episodes
  - Costs of Selected Fiscal Policy Interventions
  - Brazil: Public Sector Balance Sheet, 2014
  - Annex Table 1.2.1 Advanced Economies: Local Projection Results from Equation (A1.2.1)
  - Annex Table 1.2.2 Emerging Market Economies: Local Projection Results from Equation (A1.2.1)
  - Annex Table 1.5.1 Private Sector Deleveraging Case Studies: Macroeconomic Conditions
  - Annex Table 1.5.2 Costs of Selected U.S. Fiscal Interventions
  - Comprehensive country and time-series tables A1–A25 covering 2007–21 and other groupings

### Analytical conclusions and policy implications (as stated)
- Fiscal policy can play a role in facilitating the adjustment during deleveraging by accounting for interlinkages between private and public debt.
- Country case studies provide "useful insights on what fiscal policy should and should not do to facilitate deleveraging while minimizing the drag on the economy."
- The report explicitly examines "the role of fiscal policy during financial recessions" and the "Benefits of Targeted Fiscal Intervention during Times of Private Deleveraging."

*IMF Fiscal Monitor: Debt: Use it Wisely, October 2016*

---

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---

## References

- [Opening Remarks by Vitor Gaspar during the Press Conference, October 5, 2016](http://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2016/10/06/AM16-SP100516-Debt-Use-It-Wisely-Opening-Remarks)
- [News Article: Low Growth, Inflation Hamper Debt Reduction](http://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2016/10/04/AM16NAFISCALMONITOR100416)
- [Blog: Big Bad Actors: A Global View of Debt](https://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/2016/10/05/big-bad-actors-a-global-view-of-debt/)
- [Transcript of the Press Conference on the Release of the October 2016 Fiscal Monitor](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2016/10/05/TR100516-Press-Conference-October-2016-Fiscal-Monitor)
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fm/issues/2016/12/31/debt-use-it-wisely_