A government debt is the debt owned by a government in the form of bonds, securities or bills, or in the form of direct loans made to other states and supranational organizations. There is widespread belief among political decision makers, the general public, and finance scholars that such debt ought to be repaid, no matter what. One thinks, for example, of the recent Greek crisis and the strong position taken by the European Union under the leadership of Germany. Other examples include the restructuring of the Argentine debt in 2005, and the cases of many other debtor states of the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF).