There are, however, some complications, so in pursuing these benefits we need to proceed with care. While a central counterparty reduces bilateral exposures, it does create a single point of failure – if the central counterparty fails every participant is affected.
By consequence the government debt-to-GDP ratio in the US was about 84% in 2009. It is expected to rise to 102.5% by 2011.   In the UK, the general government deficit widened to 11.5% of GDP in 2009, and it is expected to decline to only about 10% by 2011.