WASHINGTON, November 19. /TASS/. Global debt is set to hit a record $277 trillion by the end of the year, or 365% of global GDP, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Institute of International Finance.

According to the report, the economic consequences of the pandemic have caused an increase in global debt by $15 trillion since the end of last year, setting a new record of over $272 trillion in the Q3 of 2020. As financial measures to combat the pandemic continue to be applied, the institute experts expect that by the end of 2020, global debt will reach $277 trillion (365% of GDP).

At the same time, according to them, the level of debt outside the financial sector in the world will reach $210 trillion this year, compared to $194 trillion in 2019. In addition, the debt volume of developing countries is approaching 210% of their total GDP, up from 185% in 2019 and 140% a decade ago. The sharp decline in revenues has made debt servicing much more onerous for governments in developing countries, despite low borrowing costs, the experts said.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.