The highest authoritative level in any country is the governing body, which is also generally the lowest risk borrower in a jurisdiction. The largest global borrowers are also governments, with the US having a larger amount of debt outstanding than any other single entity. However, because of the ability of governments to change laws and statutes, along with the huge revenue base available to them and their mandate to control the national monetary system, they remain the lowest risk borrowers in the world.

Supranational Agencies (such as World Bank and the Inter American Development Bank) are normally guaranteed on a jointly and severally basis by the member states, or by the percentage shareholding a state has in the agency. Therefore, depending on the agency, they are often comparable to government bonds from a risk perspective, but because of structure issues they may provide even more attractive returns.