In 2023, the Chinese budget projects a central government debt ceiling of 29.8 trillion yuan, which is roughly 4.3 trillion US dollars. This figure is drawn from the budget proposal published during the 1st session of the 14th National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislative body, and was reported by the TASS agency when summarizing the budget outline for the year.
The document outlines several debt limits for 2023: a central budget national debt cap of 29.8 trillion yuan, an ordinary debt limit for local governments at 16.5 trillion yuan, and a target debt ceiling at 25.6 trillion yuan. In US dollar terms, these thresholds translate to about 4.3 trillion dollars for the central budget, around 2.4 trillion dollars for local government ordinary debt, and approximately 3.7 trillion dollars for the target debt level, according to the same budget presentation.
During the year, Russian officials highlighted the nation’s debt posture as part of broader fiscal updates. Early in 2023, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov indicated that the country’s public debt stood at about 15 percent of its gross domestic product, a ratio viewed as a key indicator of fiscal health in conversations about sovereign finance.
In mid-January, a Moscow business daily reported on a briefing from a representative of the Russian Ministry of Finance. The report noted that Russia had reached a total domestic and foreign public debt of 22.8 trillion rubles by the end of the previous year, underscoring the scale of the country’s indebtedness across both domestic and external markets.
Analysts in the early weeks of February observed a growing concern in the United States about the size of the national debt. A public administration law expert discussed the trajectory of the federal debt, highlighting that the expansion of the debt burden beyond certain critical thresholds could pose serious fiscal risks. The commentary suggested that an unchecked rise in the debt level might exert pressure on long-term budget stability and could influence future policy choices at the federal level. This perspective reflects ongoing debates about how large debt stocks may affect credit markets, interest costs, and fiscal flexibility in the near to medium term.