Soaring public debt: Return of financial repression and high inflation?

Abstract

The global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has once again shown the key role of fiscal stimulus. At the same time, in many developed countries, stimulating monetary policy was limited by the already achieved zero interest rates. But the fight against the consequences of the coronavirus with fiscal policy instruments had a negative effect in the form of an increase in the state budget deficit and, as a result, in public debt. According to the Institute of International Finance (IMF), by the end of 2022, global debt reached $297 trillion, or 349%. The public debt in the world reached 102% of GDP in 2022, which is a historically high value since the 1960s. In 2023, global debt continued to grow in nominal terms: according to the IMF, in Q1 2023, it has already increased by $8.3 trillion to $305 trillion. The risks of rapid growth in public debt in developed and developing countries were even before the COVID-19 pandemic. But after a period of stimulus fiscal measures in 2020—2021 the public debt problem has worsened, raising fears that the practice of financial repression could become a reality for the next decade. Accelerating global inflation increases incentives for governments to use financial repression to eliminate the public debt burden. At the same time, financial repression, in turn, may imply a decrease in the effectiveness of the inflation targeting policy, as a result of which there are risks that high inflation will become more sustainable.