Indeed, the 10 largest central banks now own assets totaling $ trillion, accounting for 29% of the world economy, up by 10% from end-2015, double what it was in midSeptember 2008 and almost half the value of all debt in Bloomberg’s global bond index (as shown in Chart 1)! 5  Chart 1.
The current account deficit widened further in 2007 and reached a very high level as a percentage of GDP, as domestic savings (which are relatively low) fell well short of domestic investment (which is relatively high). Whilst the general government deficit remained for the second year in a row below 3% of GDP, imbalances remain high, as reflected in the debt-to-GDP ratio.