Eli5: How can some country have trillions of dollar in debt like Japan but still functional without any consequences?

Question

Eli5: How can some country have trillions of dollar in debt like Japan but still functional without any consequences?

In: 101

Answer 1

Interest rates on Japanese government bonds are extremely low, so, for example, last year [Japan only paid 0.4% of GDP](https://thediplomat.com/2022/02/crying-wolf-japans-ministry-of-finance/) for interest on their debt. For comparison, the US pays about 1.5% of GDP towards interest every year.