IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva holds a tablet device during the Managing Director briefing on the Global Policy Agenda during the 2026 IMF-World Bank Group Annual Meetings at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok on October 14, 2026. (AFP Photo)
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva urged governments on Oct. 14 to repair public finances as rising bond yields increase the cost of servicing debt.
“Make urgent repairs to the fiscal house before the cracks widen,” she told a news conference at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok.
She called for higher revenues, more efficient spending and stronger public financial management, warning that the global economy’s resilience was reaching its limits.
Global public debt is on course to exceed 100 percent of economic output, the IMF said, as governments face growing costs for defense and aging populations.
The U.S. war with Iran has pushed up energy prices and inflation expectations, adding to pressure on central banks to raise interest rates.
Era Dabla-Norris, deputy director of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, said countries with high debt needed to act now.
Bond yields had risen by an average of around 110 basis points since late February, she said.
Greater reliance on short-term borrowing meant interest rate rises fed into government financing costs more quickly, she warned.
IMF research projects average government interest payments will rise from 2.3 percent of GDP in 2021 to 3.7 percent in 2031.
In low-income countries, interest already absorbs an average of 15 percent of tax revenues.
Georgieva also called for action to address growing global economic imbalances.
“To put it very simply, China needs to spend more, the U.S. has to save more and Europe has to invest more,” she said.
