Bonds and other Government debt tends to be very inexpensive to service. Unless a country's debt levels are extremely excessive, and assuming that it expects it

Bonds and other Government debt tends to be very inexpensive to service. Unless a country's debt levels are extremely excessive, and assuming that it expects its economy to grow, then there isn't much reason to ever pay down debt, just keep servicing it through to maturity. Remember that a country doesn't have to retire, so its debt is quite different than a household's.