Definition of National Debt

National Debt

The debt owed by the government as a result of earlier borrowing to finance budget deficits. That part of the debt not held by the central bank is the publically held national debt.

Publicly Held National Debt

See national debt.

Public Debt

See national debt.

Structural Deficit

The budget deficit in excess of the deficit that in the long run keeps constant the ratio of the publically held national debt to GDP.

Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

An international bank headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, which
serves as a forum for monetary cooperation among several European central banks, the Bank of Japan, and the
U.S. Federal Reserve System. Founded in 1930 to handle the German payment of World War I reparations, it
now monitors and collects data on international banking activity and promulgates rules concerning
international bank regulation.

Debt/equity ratio

Indicator of financial leverage. Compares assets provided by creditors to assets provided
by shareholders. Determined by dividing long-term debt by common stockholder equity.

Debt

Money borrowed.

Debt capacity

Ability to borrow. The amount a firm can borrow up to the point where the firm value no
longer increases.

Debt displacement

The amount of borrowing that leasing displaces. Firms that do a lot of leasing will be
forced to cut back on borrowing.

Debt instrument

An asset requiring fixed dollar payments, such as a government or corporate bond.

Debt leverage

The amplification of the return earned on equity when an investment or firm is financed
partially with borrowed money.

Debt limitation

A bond covenant that restricts in some way the firm's ability to incur additional indebtedness.

Debt market

The market for trading debt instruments.

Debt ratio

Total debt divided by total assets.

Debt relief

Reducing the principal and/or interest payments on LDC loans.

Debt securities

IOUs created through loan-type transactions - commercial paper, bank CDs, bills, bonds, and
other instruments.

Debt service

Interest payment plus repayments of principal to creditors, that is, retirement of debt.

Debt service parity approach

An analysis wherein the alternatives under consideration will provide the firm
with the exact same schedule of after-tax debt payments (including both interest and principal).

Debt-service coverage ratio

Earnings before interest and income taxes plus one-third rental charges, divided
by interest expense plus one-third rental charges plus the quantity of principal repayments divided by one
minus the tax rate.

Debt swap

A set of transactions (also called a debt-equity swap) in which a firm buys a country's dollar bank
debt at a discount and swaps this debt with the central bank for local currency that it can use to acquire local
equity.

Debtor in possession

A firm that is continuing to operate under Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

Debtor-in-possession financing

New debt obtained by a firm during the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

Domestic International Sales Corporation (DISC)

A U.S. corporation that receives a tax incentive for
export activities.

Firm's net value of debt

Total firm value minus total firm debt.

Funded debt

debt maturing after more than one year.

Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)

A wholly owned U.S. government corporation
within the Department of Housing & Urban Development. Ginnie Mae guarantees the timely payment of
principal and interest on securities issued by approved servicers that are collateralized by FHA-issued, VAguaranteed,
or Farmers Home Administration (FmHA)-guaranteed mortgages.

Gross national product (GNP)

Measures and economy's total income. It is equal to GDP plus the income
abroad accruing to domestic residents minus income generated in domestic market accruing to non-residents.

Interest rate on debt

The firm's cost of debt capital.

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development - IBRD or World Bank

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development makes loans at nearly conventional terms to countries for projects of high
economic priority.

International Banking Facility (IBF)

International Banking Facility. A branch that an American bank
establishes in the United States to do Eurocurrency business.

International bonds

A collective term that refers to global bonds, Eurobonds, and foreign bonds.

International Depository Receipt (IDR)

A receipt issued by a bank as evidence of ownership of one or more
shares of the underlying stock of a foreign corporation that the bank holds in trust. The advantage of the IDR
structure is that the corporation does not have to comply with all the regulatory issuing requirements of the
foreign country where the stock is to be traded. The U.S. version of the IDR is the American Depository
Receipt (ADR).

International diversification

The attempt to reduce risk by investing in the more than one nation. By
diversifying across nations whose economic cycles are not perfectly correlated, investors can typically reduce
the variability of their returns.

International finance subsidiary

A subsidiary incorporated in the U.S., usually in Delaware, whose sole
purpose was to issue debentures overseas and invest the proceeds in foreign operations, with the interest paid
to foreign bondholders not subject to U.S. withholding tax. The elimination of the corporate withholding tax
has ended the need for this type of subsidiary.

International Fisher effect

States that the interest rate differential between two countries should be an
unbiased predictor of the future change in the spot rate.

International fund

A mutual fund that can invest only outside the United States.

International market

Related: See external market.

International Monetary Fund

An organization founded in 1944 to oversee exchange arrangements of
member countries and to lend foreign currency reserves to members with short-term balance of payment
problems.

International Monetary Market (IMM)

A division of the CME established in 1972 for trading financial
futures. Related: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

Junior debt (subordinate debt)

debt whose holders have a claim on the firm's assets only after senior
debtholder's claims have been satisfied. Subordinated debt.

London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE)

A London exchange where Eurodollar futures
as well as futures-style options are traded.

Long-term debt

An obligation having a maturity of more than one year from the date it was issued. Also
called funded debt.

Long-term debt/capitalization

Indicator of financial leverage. Shows long-term debt as a proportion of the
capital available. Determined by dividing long-term debt by the sum of long-term debt, preferred stock and
common stockholder equity.

Long-term debt ratio

The ratio of long-term debt to total capitalization.

Long-term debt to equity ratio

A capitalization ratio comparing long-term debt to shareholders' equity.

London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE)

London exchange where Eurodollar futures as well as futures-style options are traded.

Multinational corporation

A firm that operates in more than one country.

National Futures Association (NFA)

The futures industry self regulatory organization established in 1982.

National market

Related: internal market

Nationalization

A government takeover of a private company.

Original issue discount debt (OID debt)

debt that is initially offered at a price below par.

Secured debt

debt that, in the event of default, has first claim on specified assets.

Senior debt

debt that, in the event of bankruptcy, must be repaid before subordinated debt receives any payment.

SIMEX (Singapore International Monetary Exchange)

A leading futures and options exchange in Singapore.

Structured debt

debt that has been customized for the buyer, often by incorporating unusual options.

Subordinated debt

debt over which senior debt takes priority. In the event of bankruptcy, subordinated
debtholders receive payment only after senior debt claims are paid in full.

Total debt to equity ratio

A capitalization ratio comparing current liabilities plus long-term debt to
shareholders' equity.

Trade debt

Accounts payable.

Unfunded debt

debt maturing within one year (short-term debt). See: funded debt.

Unsecured debt

debt that does not identify specific assets that can be taken over by the debtholder in case of default.

RATIO OF DEBT TO STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

A ratio that shows which group—creditors or stockholders—has the biggest stake in or the most control of a company:
(Total liabilities) / (Stockholders’ equity)

Debt

Borrowings from financiers.

Debtors

Sales to customers who have bought goods or services on credit but who have not yet paid their debt.

Bad debts

The amount of accounts receivable that is not expected to be collected.

bad debts

Refers to accounts receivable from credit sales to customers
that a business will not be able to collect (or not collect in full). In hindsight,
the business shouldn’t have extended credit to these particular
customers. Since these amounts owed to the business will not be collected,
they are written off. The accounts receivable asset account is
decreased by the estimated amount of uncollectible receivables, and the
bad debts expense account is increased this amount. These write-offs
can be done by the direct write-off method, which means that no
expense is recorded until specific accounts receivable are identified as
uncollectible. Or the allowance method can be used, which is based on
an estimated percent of bad debts from credit sales during the period.
Under this method, a contra asset account is created (called allowance
for bad debts) and the balance of this account is deducted from the
accounts receivable asset account.

debt-to-equity ratio

A widely used financial statement ratio to assess the
overall debt load of a business and its capital structure, it equals total liabilities
divided by total owners’ equity. Both numbers for this ratio are
taken from a business’s latest balance sheet. There is no standard, or
generally agreed on, maximum ratio, such as 1:1 or 2:1. Every industry
is different in this regard. Some businesses, such as financial institutions,
have very high debt-to-equity ratios. In contrast, many businesses
use very little debt relative to their owners’ equity.

Cost of Debt

The cost of debt (bonds, loans, etc.) that a company is charged for
borrowing funds. A component of the cost of capital.

Debt Ratio

The percentage of debt that is used in the total capitalization of a
company. It is calculated by dividing the total book value of the
debt by the book value of all assets.

Total Debt to Total Assets Ratio

See debt ratio

Allowance for bad debts

An offset to the accounts receivable balance, against which
bad debts are charged. The presence of this allowance allows one to avoid severe
changes in the period-to-period bad debt expense by expensing a steady amount to
the allowance account in every period, rather than writing off large bad debts to
expense on an infrequent basis.

Bad debt

An account receivable that cannot be collected.

Debt

Funds owed to another entity.

Long-term debt

A debt for which payments will be required for a period of more than
one year into the future.

funded debt

debt with more than 1 year remaining to maturity.

international Fisher effect

Theory that real interest rates in all countries should be equal, with differences in nominal rates reflecting differences in expected inflation.

MM's proposition I (debt irrelevance proposition)

The value of a firm is unaffected by its capital structure.

secured debt

debt that has first claim on specified collateral in the event of default.

subordinated debt

debt that may be repaid in bankruptcy only after senior debt is paid.

Debt Instrument

Any financial asset corresponding to a debt, such as a bond or a treasury bill.

Gross National Product

Total output of final goods and services produced by a country's citizens during a year.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Organization originally established to manage the postwar fixed exchange rate system.

International Reserves

See foreign exchange reserves.

Monetizing the Debt

See printing money.

National Income

GDP with some adjustments to remove items that do not make it into anyone's hands as income, such as indirect taxes and depreciation. Loosely speaking, it is interpreted as being equal to GDP.

National Income and Product Accounts

The national accounting system that records economic activity such as GDP and related measures.

National Output

GDP.

National Saving

Private saving plus public saving. That part of national income which is not spent on consumption goods or government spending.

Net National Product

GNP minus depreciation.

Debt Security

A security representing a debt relationship with an enterprise, including a government
security, municipal security, corporate bond, convertible debt issue, and commercial
paper.

Debt Capacity

An assessment of ability and willingness to repay a loan from anticipated future cash flow or other sources.

Debt Financing

Raising loan capital through the creation of debt by issuing a form of paper evidencing amounts owed and payable on specified dates or on demand.

Debt/Equity Ratio

A comparison of debt to equity in a company's capital structure.

Long Term Debt

Liability due in a year or more.

Mezzanine Debt

Refers to non-conventional debt that has a greater element of risk than secured debt but has less risk than equity.

Senior Debt

Are debt instruments that provide financing, take primary security against either specific or all assets of the borrower, have fixed terms of repayment and charge fixed or floating interest rates.

Subordinated Debt

debt instruments that provide financing for acquisitions, expansion and restructuring, take secondary security against assets, have fixed or flexible terms of repayment and charge fixed or floating interest rates.

international fund

A mutual fund that can invest in securities issued anywhere outside of Canada.

Debt (Credit Insurance)

Money, goods or services that someone is obligated to pay someone else in accordance with an expressed or implied agreement. debt may or may not be secured.

Country financial risk

The ability of the national economy to generate enough foreign exchange to meet
payments of interest and principal on its foreign debt.

Official unrequited transfers

Include a variety of subsidies, military aid, voluntary cancellation of debt,
contributions to international organizations, indemnities imposed under peace treaties, technical assistance,
taxes, fines, etc.

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