The overall public debts in major emerging economies were at a relatively low level in 2018, and their risks were still controllable, said a Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) report Tuesday.

The major emerging economies, defined by the forum as "E11," refer to Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.

The average public debt level of E11 countries was about 47.1 percent of the GDP, lower than the 60-percent limit stipulated in the EU's Stability and Growth Pact and far below the 115.1-percent level for the Group of Seven developed economies, according to the report.

The report, titled "Development of Emerging Economies Annual Report 2019," was released at a press conference of the BFA annual conference, which runs from March 26 to 29 in southern China's Hainan Province.

Despite the relatively low level, the public debts of the E11 were generally on the rise.

In terms of average annual growth rate of public debts, the E11 countries excluding India and Russia all maintained positive growth in the 2015-2018 period, and the growth was even fast in some countries, the report cautioned.

It warned of likely higher debt burdens on some emerging economies due to a possible upward movement of global interest rates and a decline in their solvency resulting from slower GDP growth.