Disclosing Public Debt Boosts Investor Confidence, Cuts Borrowing Costs 

June 12, 2025--Greater debt transparency builds investor confidence, helps reduce borrowing costs, and strengthens debt sustainability-reducing the risk of shocks that can lead to a debt crisis
Public debt is projected to reach nearly 100 percent of global gross domestic product by the end of this decade, surpassing even pandemic-level highs.

Governments, particularly those in emerging market and developing economies, face both mounting debt service costs and shrinking room to maneuver in government budgets.

The result is fewer resources for social programs or investments, reduced capacity to respond to shocks, and higher borrowing costs.

In addition to issuing more debt, countries are increasingly using complex and opaque forms of financing. New debt instruments such as guaranteed, securitized, and collateralized debt contracts linked to public-private partnerships, state-owned enterprises, or SOEs, and pension funds have appeared on the scene.