SWIP's Webb: Japan could be next country to default

Japan could be the next economy to default as its debt levels are unsustainable, according to Roger Webb, investment director on the credit team at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP).

The country's debt-to-GDP ratio is already over 200% and forecast to hit 230% by 2014, and Webb said having such a high level of debt posed a major risk to the country's economy. "Japan could be the next economy to default, because its debt to GDP ratio is unsustainable, with or without inflation," Webb (pictured) said. "Japan is slowly spiraling out of control and we have been shorting Japanese government bonds in the Strategic Bond fund for a while now." Luke Hickmore, co- manager on the SWIP Strategic Bond fund alongside Webb, added Ben Bernanke's recent hint the Federal Reserve...