Does the corporate debt mountain pose an avalanche risk?
At the end of last year the US Federal Reserve estimated that private US companies held nearly $15 trillion (13 trillion euros) in debt. In Europe, non-financial companies hold some 12 trillion euros ($13.8 trillion), according to Pierre Verle, head of credit at asset manager Carmignac.
"In absolute terms, the debt of non-financial companies accounts for around 70 percent of gross domestic product in the United States and in the eurozone it is above 100 percent: these are elevated levels, but not explosive," said Isabelle Mateos y Lago, managing director and chief multi-asset strategist at BlackRock Investment Institute.
She said such levels "don't say much about the capacity of firms to repay their debts."...