Well you have to look at it together with aggregate dollar increase term over term.
In a hpyothetical situation you can have the following:
Scenario A
Debt levels:
Prior Term: 5M
Next Term: 10M
Percentage Increase: 100%
Scenario B:
Debt Levls
Prior Term: 1,000M
Next Term: 1,500M
Percentage Increase: 50%
Which was actually worse for the country and the future?