TOKYO (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund is concerned about rising debt in both emerging and advanced economies due to coronavirus stimulus spending, and it will urge countries to tackle fiscal reform once the pandemic ends, its deputy managing director Mitsuhiro Furusawa said on Wednesday.
For the first time ever, global public debt is seen rising to above 100% of combined GDP after governments responded to the health crisis, Furusawa said.
“Once the economy gets back on track, (a) medium to long-term fiscal framework must be created to manage public finances accordingly,” Furusawa told an online panel discussion organised by Columbia Business School’s Center on Japanese Economy and Business.
“That will be among the utmost priorities for our policy recommendations.”
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Catherine Evans)
