Tokyo

INTERNATIONAL debt crises have been increasing both in frequency and intensity in recent decades - from the Latin American debt crisis of 1982 to the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2008. And there is reason to believe that yet another may be brewing now.

Global debt has reached US$217 trillion, equal to a record 325 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) with the debt build-up being particularly marked among business corporations in the world's leading emerging economies as well as among governments in mature economies.