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The governments that have stopped borrowing abroad

For a buyer that is a ministry or a state company, the question behind the cover is whether the state can still find dollars. One published sign is whether it can still sell bonds abroad. The Bank for International Settlements records, each quarter, every government's bonds and notes in international markets: what is outstanding, what falls due within a year, and what was issued.

23 of 66
governments with bonds abroad that issued none in the last four quarters

Of the 66 markets on this site whose government has bonds abroad, 23 recorded no international issue in the four quarters to June 2026. The other 43 issued USD 281 billion between them.

Nothing since 2021 or earlier

GovernmentLast issue recordedBonds outstanding abroadDue within a year
Viet NamQ4 2014USD 253 mnone
ZambiaQ3 2015USD 2.5 bnUSD 1.2 bn
IraqQ3 2017USD 2.7 bnnone
TajikistanQ3 2017USD 500 mnone
Papua New GuineaQ4 2018USD 500 mnone
Sri LankaQ2 2019USD 7.0 bnUSD 2.5 bn
TunisiaQ3 2019USD 1.6 bnUSD 1.6 bn
LebanonQ4 2019USD 22.0 bnUSD 4.4 bn
BelarusQ2 2020USD 3.1 bnUSD 1.8 bn
UkraineQ2 2021USD 9.9 bnnone
RwandaQ3 2021USD 620 mnone
BelizeQ4 2021USD 364 mnone
BIS debt securities statistics: general government, international markets, all currencies.

Across all 66, USD 93 billion of these bonds falls due within a year.

What "last issue" means here

A debt exchange is not recorded as an issue. The new bonds of the 2024 exchanges by Zambia, Sri Lanka and Ukraine do not appear, so for those three the year shown is the last issue before their default. A small issue can also appear during a restructuring, so each market's page gives the amount beside the quarter.

The figures are the BIS debt securities statistics for general government in international markets, in all currencies. Each market's Economy tab carries its own line.

Every figure on this page is recomputed when the page is built. They come from published sources — World Bank contract awards and procurement notices, the EBRD project register, the OECD Country Risk Classification, the BIS banking and debt securities statistics, and the country cover policy each export credit agency publishes itself. Where a claim stops holding, the page stops building rather than going stale.
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