Foreign debt is debt owed by a country to another. High levels of foreign debt can be riskier than domestically owned debt, due to the increased risks of contagion. Thailand had the biggest growth in foreign debt from 2008-2013, rising by 483% in real terms due to a boom in outward foreign investment from Thailand. Burundi’s declined by 76.1% in the same period, the biggest globally, as much of its debt was written off in 2009.
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