The total amount of outstanding US debt just hit a new record high.
New numbers from the government’s FiscalData system show the nation’s debt jumped $54.9 billion in just five days.
After crossing the $32 trillion mark on June 16th, the total debt accumulated by the US has now surged an additional $658 billion as of August 10th.
The record high comes as the United Nations issues a “grave warning” on the amount of debt being accumulated around the world.
According to the UN, the total amount of outstanding global public debt reached an all-time high of $92 trillion in 2022. That’s a five-fold rise since 2000.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres says the debt crisis is hitting developing nations particularly hard.
“On average, African countries pay four times more for borrowing than the United States and eight times more than the wealthiest European economies.
A total of 52 countries – almost 40% of the developing world – are in serious debt trouble.”
According to the UN, at least 19 developing nations are now allocating more money to interest payments than education, and 45 spend more on interest than on public health initiatives.
The UN is calling for a comprehensive reform of the global financial architecture that boosts the amount of affordable long-term financing that developing nations can access, as well as the amount of liquidity developing nations have in times of crisis.
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