thumb|map of countries by external debt as a percentage of gdp image: us gross external debt position by sectors.png|thumb|the chart depicts the share of us gross external debt by debtors.  external debt (or foreign debt) is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to creditors outside the country. the debtors can be the government, corporations or citizens of that country. the debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions such as the international monetary fund (imf) and world bank. note that the use of gross liability figures greatly distorts the ratio for countries which contain major money centers, e.g. united kingdom, because of london's role as a major money centre. contrast net international investment position ==definition== pep defines it as "gross external debt, at any given time, is the outstanding amount of those actual current, and not contingent, liabilities that require payment(s) of principal and/or interest by the debtor at some point(s) in the future and that are owed to nonresidents by residents of an economy"."imf external debt statistics. guide for compilers and users", imf, 2003 (pp. i-xvi & 1-3). in this definition, imf defines the key elements as follows: ;outstanding and actual current liabilities: for this purpose, the decisive consideration is whether a creditor owns a claim on the debtor. here debt liabilities include arrears of both principal and interest. ;principal and interest: when this cost is paid periodically, as commonly occurs, it is known as an interest payment. all other payments of economic value by the debtor to the creditor that reduce the principal amount outstanding are known as principal payments. however, the definition of external debt does not distinguish between whether the payments that are required are principal or interest, or both. also, the definition does not specify that the timing of the future payments of principal and/or interest need be known for a liability to be classified as debt. ;residence: to qualify as external debt, the debt liabilities must be owed by a resident to a nonresident. residence is determined by where the debtor and creditor have their centers of economic interest&mdash;typically, where they are ordinarily located&mdash;and not by their nationality. ;current and not contingent: contingent liabilities are not included in the definition of external debt. these are defined as arrangements under which one or more conditions must be fulfilled 
Debt Economic_indicators Financial_economics Macroeconomics