The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the US government-sponsored safety net for pensions, said on Tuesday that its year-end deficit remained little changed from last year at $23bn but that risks of future losses had risen sharply.

The PBGC, which reported its results for the fiscal year ended September 30, said that if certain “events” – an oblique reference to corporate insolvencies that the PBGC is not allowed to specify – that occurred in recent weeks had taken place before the end of September, the year-end deficit would have hit a record $25.7bn (€22bn, £14.8bn).