Table:
| ($ in millions) |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| At December 31: | 2019 | 2018 |
| Total company debt | $62,899 | $45,812 |
| Total Global Financing segment debt | $24,727 | $31,227 |
| Debt to support external clients | 21,487 | 27,536 |
| Debt to support internal clients | 3,239 | 3,690 |
| Non-Global Financing debt | 38,173 | 14,585 |
Paragraphs:
Debt
Our funding requirements are continually monitored and we execute our strategies to manage the overall asset and liability profile. Additionally, we maintain sufficient flexibility to access global funding sources as needed.
Total debt of $62,899 million increased $17,087 million from December 31, 2018, driven by issuances of $32,415 million; partially offset by debt maturities of $12,673 million and a decrease in commercial paper of $2,691 million.
Non-Global Financing debt of $38,173 million increased $23,587 million from prior year-end levels primarily driven by issuances to fund the Red Hat acquisition.
Global Financing debt of $24,727 million decreased $6,500 million from December 31, 2018, primarily due to the wind down of OEM IT commercial financing operations.
Global Financing provides financing predominantly for IBM’s external client assets, as well as for assets under contract by other IBM units. These assets, primarily for GTS, generate long-term, stable revenue streams similar to the Global Financing asset portfolio. Based on their attributes, these GTS assets are leveraged with the balance of the Global Financing asset base.
The debt used to fund Global Financing assets is composed of intercompany loans and external debt. Total debt changes generally correspond with the level of client and commercial financing receivables, the level of cash and cash equivalents, the change in intercompany and external payables and the change in intercompany investment from IBM. The terms of the intercompany loans are set by the company to substantially match the term, currency and interest rate variability underlying the financing receivable and are based on arm’s-length pricing. The Global Financing debt-to-equity ratio remained at 9 to 1 at December 31, 2019.
As previously stated, we measure Global Financing as a stand-alone entity, and accordingly, interest expense relating to debt supporting Global Financing’s external client and internal business is included in the “Global Financing Results of Operations” and in note D, “Segments.” In the Consolidated Income Statement, the external debt-related interest expense supporting Global Financing’s internal financing to IBM is reclassified from cost of financing to interest expense.
Question:
What caused the decrease in the total debt?
Answer: driven by issuances of $32,415 million; partially offset by debt maturities of $12,673 million and a decrease in commercial paper of $2,691 million.