Today, these countries can simply refinance their obligations at longer maturities.

Over time, the eurozone countries would inevitably have to refinance most of Greece s public debt.

Russian companies have to repay or refinance about 300 billion of debt over the coming two years.

Whether it works will be seen in April, when Greece will have to refinance its debt once more.

Instead, easy money stimulated the economy by inducing households to refinance their mortgages, and to spend some of their capital.

The ability to refinance government debt and keep costs down is essential to strengthening public finances and boosting GDP growth.

And most mortgage holders probably expected to refinance their mortgages before their rising interest rate trebled or quadrupled monthly repayments.

This was a profitable model when Spanish banks were able to refinance themselves at a spread much lower than 100 basis points.

I have proposed a plan that would allow Italy and Spain to refinance their debt by issuing treasury bills at around 1 .

Lower interest rates worked (a little), but for the most part by encouraging households to refinance their mortgages, not by stimulating investment.

That is why it has become so difficult for small and medium sized companies to get new loans or to refinance existing loans.

At some point, yields might become so high that the government concerned could not refinance its maturing debt or finance its current expenses.

When the pyramid starts crumbling, government that is, taxpayers must step in to refinance the banking system, revive mortgage markets, and prevent economic collapse.

The ECB would not be facilitating additional borrowing by member countries it would merely allow them to refinance their debt at a lower cost.

Many who want to refinance their mortgages still cannot, because they are underwater (owing more on their mortgages than the underlying property is worth).

At the same time, Brazil which has followed sound economic policies and has healthy budget and trade surpluses cannot refinance its debt at acceptable rates.

Ukraine s current refinance rate is 16 a year, 10 less than inflation, which means that Ukraine has a negative real interest rate of 10 a year.

With risk assets long term valuation falling and pressure to prick price bubbles rising, China s capital reserves will be insufficient to refinance the developed countries debts cheaply.

But the role of debt finance has been growing and, with it, the need to refinance old debt when total expenditure, including debt service, exceeds total revenue.

Lower interest rates worked, but not so much because they boosted investment, but because they led households to refinance their mortgages, and fueled a bubble in housing prices.

Larger firms even those with large debt problems can refinance their excessive liabilities in court or out of court but an unprecedented number of small businesses are going bankrupt.

Sometime in the future, payments would rise, but borrowers were told, again, not to worry house prices would rise faster, making it easy to refinance with another negative amortization loan.

Sometime in the future, payments would rise, but borrowers were told, again, not to worry house prices would rise faster, making it easy to refinance with another negative amortization loan.

These differences, and the lessons that have been learned from Japan s lost decade about the need to refinance the banking system, suggest that a lost decade for the US is most unlikely.

Italy and Spain would then be able to refinance their debt at close to the ECB s deposit rate, which is currently 1 on mandatory reserves and 25 basis points on excess reserve accounts.

In that case, the Greek government would face no redemptions for the next five years and would have to refinance about 30 billion per year from 2015 onwards, which should be manageable by then.

The only means to refinance Greece s debt at an affordable level would be to grant long term, subsidized loans that ultimately would cover a large part of the liabilities coming due in the next 3 5 years.

From the standpoint of Greece s ability to pay, such units would be more relevant, since it doesn t have to pay off its debts fully in one year (unless the crisis makes it impossible to refinance current debt).

And most mortgage holders probably expected to refinance their mortgages before their rising interest rate trebled or quadrupled monthly repayments. Another hoped for benefit was that capital gains could be converted into home equity loans, boosting homeowners living standards.

Many local Spanish banks can thus stay afloat only because they refinance a large share of their mortgage book via the European Central Bank. But reliance on cheap central bank (re)financing does not represent a viable business model.

Given that the price of oil is likely to remain low, Asian financiers even the Chinese do not seem eager to refinance Russian companies, and sanctions are unlikely to be lifted, investors clearly wanted a bigger and bolder solution.

The US government is now trying to repay old debt by borrowing more in 2010, average annual debt creation (including debt refinance) moved above 4 trillion, or almost one quarter of GDP, compared to the pre crisis average of 8.7 of GDP.

The US government is now trying to repay old debt by borrowing more in 2010, average annual debt creation (including debt refinance) moved above 4 trillion, or almost one quarter of GDP, compared to the pre crisis average of 8.7 of GDP.

Indeed, even something like a self fulfilling debt crisis is thinkable if market participants believe that a default or an exit from EMU is imminent, this would drive up government bond yields for the country in question. At some point, yields might become so high that the government concerned could not refinance its maturing debt or finance its current expenses.

In that case, the Greek government would face no redemptions for the next five years and would have to refinance about 30 billion per year from 2015 onwards, which should be manageable by then. Official financing needs would then be much more limited, and the IMF EU package of around 45 billion should be sufficient to cover most of the progressively lower deficits over this grace period.

This feedback has nothing to do with the debt to annual GDP ratio crossing some threshold, unless the people who contribute to the feedback believe in the ratio. To be sure, the ratio is a factor that would help us to assess risks of negative feedback, since the government must refinance short term debt sooner, and, if the crisis pushes up interest rates, the authorities will face intense pressures for fiscal austerity sooner or later.