The speed and scale of the macroeconomic policy response to the COVID-19 crisis is unprecedented in peacetime. The extensive use of direct fiscal policy tools to offset the most damaging effects of the pandemic necessarily had a marked impact on OECD-area governments’ total gross borrowing (new borrowing plus refinancing needs). Having remained stable since the 2008 financial crisis, it jumped more than 70% from USD 9.6tn in 2019 to above USD 16.4tn in 2020 – the highest increase in a single year, and nearly double the rise during the 2008 financial crisis. [….]