Some countries are just writing an IOU on their books without having set aside any money. That's why it's leading to debate, because, on the one hand, you have these countries not really setting aside money. On the other hand, in Canada, we have CPP and QPP assets that are included to reduce net debt, but are not really within the control of the government because they're set aside for a specific purpose. The short answer to your question is that I think we have to look at both net and gross debt to paint an accurate picture.
On February 4th, 2022. See this statement in context.