Global public debt to pass $100tn this year, says IMF

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Global public debt is forecast to exceed $100tn by the end of this year, according to the IMF, which warned in a report that major economies’ plans to stabilise borrowing “fall far short of what is needed”.

“Risks to the debt outlook are heavily tilted to the upside” and there were “good reasons to believe that future debt levels could be higher than currently projected”, the fund said on Tuesday in its Fiscal Monitor report.

Public debt was expected to approach 100 per cent of global GDP by the end of the decade, it added.

Debt was forecast to continue rising in countries including the US, the UK, Brazil, France, Italy and South Africa, the IMF said.

It added that government spending to address the green transition, ageing populations and security concerns was likely to add to fiscal pressures over the coming years.

This is a developing story