Reduce your debt, it suffocates economies – IMF tells Countries

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has urged countries to reduce debt levels, warning that excessive debt suffocates economies.

Georgieva spoke on Monday during the civil society organisation (CSO) town hall at the ongoing annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF.

On October 12, the Debt Management Office (DMO) announced that Nigeria’s total public debt increased to N152.39 trillion as of June 30.

The debt agency said the total domestic debt was N80.55 trillion ($52.67 billion), while the total external debt was N71.84 trillion ($46.98 billion).

Speaking on how world economies can bolster resilience and withstand risks, Georgieva asked countries to prioritise reducing their debt burdens..

“The consequences are that we have to be much much more focused on bringing debt levels down, because very high level of debt suffocates economies,” she said.

“Although ironically, debt levels in advanced economies are still going up, debt levels in emerging markets are still going up”

Furthermore, Georgieva said debt levels are declining in low-income economies, “but they’re going down because they have no access to financing”.

The managing director added, however, that low-income countries are struggling to manage their debt burdens.

“And even if they’re going down, it is still incredibly difficult for low-income countries to cope with these levels of debt,” she added.

The IMF managing director said the fund will focus on policies aimed at reducing debt levels.

Nigeria is classified as a lower-middle-income economy by the World Bank.(The Cable)