The phrase "a severe debt" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when discussing a significant financial obligation or liability that is difficult to manage.
Example: "After losing his job, he found himself in a severe debt that he struggled to repay."
Alternatives: "a substantial debt" or "a significant debt."
One vulnerable example is Tanzania, a country that suffered a severe debt crisis in the 1990s.
Faced with a severe debt crisis, euro-zone leaders are planning to strengthen existing constraints.
It reckons 21 million UK people are struggling with bills, with 2.6 million living with a severe debt problem.
Research published last year by debt charity StepChange revealed 2.6 million people in the UK had a severe debt problem (pdf) and a further 8.8 million were in moderate debt.
The deal would rescue OZ from a severe debt crisis.
The island is suffering through a severe debt crisis, which has hampered basic government services.
Merrill Lynch, in a recent report on the contagion effect of a worst-case situation in which a severe Greek debt restructuring results in other weak European countries having to take a hit on their bonds, estimated that overall European bank losses could be as high as $543 billion.
According to recent comprehensive reviews, even a severe sleep debt might be overcome by a modest recovery sleep [ 34].
Solid analytical backing for this framework followed in economics books, including by academics Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff, who explained the peculiar dynamics of recovery from severe debt crises, and by Mike Spence, a Nobel laureate in economics who described the underpinning of the growth process.
Global stocks have suffered on and off for months as Greece's severe debt problems fueled investor concerns over a potential collapse of the euro and the possibility that a Greek default could stimulate neighboring nations' solvency issues, upending the worldwide financial recovery.
The point is that America is still suffering from an overall lack of demand, the result of the severe debt and financial crisis that broke out before Mr. Obama took office.
