US Corporate Debt Declines As Companies Clean Up Balance Sheets

Over the past 10 years, corporate America egged on by low-interest rates, has binged on cheap debt to fund expenditure on acquisitions, buybacks and special dividends to investors. However, as interest rates head higher, analysts on Wall Street are becoming concerned about companies’ ability to be able to repay their creditors, especially with $4 trillion of debt coming due by 2022. These concerns recently promoted rating agency S&P Global Ratings to claim that “Removing the easy money punch bowl could trigger the next default cycle…Debt high, defaults low — something’s gotta give.” According to the agency’s analysis, $4.4 trillion of…