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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in public debt, with countries borrowing at unprecedented levels to avoid mass unemployment and company bankruptcies. However, the sustainability of this debt is a concern, depending on factors such as a country's fiscal capacity, growth rate, debt maturity, and political constituencies. Measuring debt is complex, with countries often hiding new debt as 'off-balance exposures' such as guarantees, contingent liabilities, and unfunded pensions. The increase in public debt is a concern for both emerging and Southern European countries, with the question of whether it is sustainable depending on whether countries can grow faster than the rate of interest at which they borrow. To manage the crisis, governments must balance the need to avoid contracting output through tight budgetary policies with the need to assuage market fears of profligacy, potentially by signalling intentions to better manage public expenditures and reorient them towards investment. Canceling debt held by central banks is not a viable solution, as it would be equivalent to defaulting on oneself, and alternative solutions such as 'coronabonds' may be more effective in securing common interest rates on financial markets.