Australia's debt tops $1 trillion: Why markets aren't rattled | The Business | ABC NEWS

Financial market specialists say Australia's debt is modest compared to other developed nations. Australian government debt topped $1 trillion briefly on Thursday, sparked by $4 billion of syndicated 2038 Treasury Bonds by the Australian Office of Financial Management. Westpac's head of financial markets strategy, Martin Whetton says while Australia's debt milestone of $1 trillion is not a cause for concern, the focus instead should be on US debt, which has topped $US40 trillion. The US federal government's debt has now more than doubled in less than a decade, from $US19.95 trillion when President Donald Trump was sworn in for his first term in January 2017. Martin Whetton says globally, the bond market has been flashing red, the US 30-year bond yield hit a 19-year high, which will likely raise the cost of the US paying back its growing debt to $US85 billion a day. It's drawing fresh warnings that a fiscal crisis is brewing as ballooning costs for social safety net programs and interest payments far outstrip revenues held back by tax cuts.
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