Present value of external debt (% of GNI)

This financial metric represents the present value of a nation's outstanding external obligations relative to its Gross National Income (GNI), reflecting the economic burden of debt on national resources. It aggregates both short-term external liabilities and the discounted future debt service payments for various categories of long-term debt, encompassing public, publicly guaranteed, and non-guaranteed debts. By considering loans with a negative grant element at their nominal value, this indicator provides a clearer picture of the actual financial commitments without overstating liability due to concessional borrowing. The use of a three-year average for GNI allows for a more stable comparison, making it an essential tool for assessing a country’s financial health and sustainability in managing foreign debt against its income generation capacity. Source: