Zhou Xiaochuan: Global public debt is about to exceed 100 trillion US dollars, and we need to be vigilant about the impact of crypto assets on global finance.

PANews reported on January 9 that at the "Boao Forum for Asia New Year Outlook 2025" event, Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the People's Bank of China, said that the world will face profound changes and challenges in 2025: the international environment continues to be full of uncertainty, and competition among major powers intensifies. , economic globalization has been frustrated; the recovery of the world economy is unpredictable, and the industrial chain has been forced to reshape due to the "decoupling and disconnection" of trade and technology; the rapid development of general artificial intelligence has brought opportunities and risks; the climate change crisis has intensified, and sustainable development faces a huge test . At the same time, he emphasized that there are several major changes that will remain unchanged in 2025: the trend of accelerating growth of countries in the Global South will not change, the direction of Asian countries in promoting inclusive economic globalization will not change, and China's determination to reform and open up will not change.

Zhou Xiaochuan pointed out in his speech that global public debt is about to exceed 100 trillion US dollars, which will increase external financing costs and exchange rate depreciation pressure on emerging markets and developing countries. Debt will pose challenges to the fiscal sustainability of developed countries. The impact of digital encrypted assets on global financial stability and financial security requires vigilance.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wrote in its October 2024 Fiscal Monitor Report that global public debt is already at a very high level. By the end of this year (2024), the size of global public debt is expected to exceed $100 trillion (93% of global gross domestic product); by 2030, it will be close to 100% of GDP. This is 10 percentage points higher than the rate in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.