Debt owing by the government or residents of one country to the government or residents of another, or to an international institution. Such debt takes various forms: it may be long- or short-dated; fixed-interest or floating-rate debt; and denominated in the currency of the lender, the borrower, some third currency such as the US dollar, or an international currency unit such as the Euro. The borrower may be a private sector body, or a government: government or sovereign debt cannot be collected by any legal process unless the government chooses to submit to it. The lenders may be individuals or investment institutions holding bonds, banks making short-term loans, national governments or government-funded institutions, or international bodies such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or World Bank). Because lenders prefer varied portfolios, many countries both lend and borrow internationally. Countries which are large net borrowers find that a high ratio of debt service to exports places a great strain on their balance of payments, which may lead to default.

• gold and foreign exchange reserves
• gold backing, hundred-per-cent
• golden handshake
• golden rule
• gold exchange standard
• gold parity
• gold points
• gold standard
• good
• Goodhart's law
• goods
• goodwill
• Gosplan
• government
• government debt
• government expenditure
• Government National Mortgage Association
• government production
• government regulation
• government spending on real goods and services
• government transfer payments
• gradualist monetarism
• Gramm-Rudman-Hollings
• granny bond
• grant, equalization