Dozens of countries in the world today are actively using the financial support of the International Monetary Fund, as economic pressure complicates the management of public finances and stabilization of the economy. This, UA.NEWS writes, reports Visualcapitalist.com based on IMF statistics. The PromPolitInform portal informs.
The absolute leader in terms of debt to the IMF is Argentina. Its debt exceeds 60 billion US dollars, which is almost four times more than that of the next country in the ranking.
The reasons for this level of debt were long-term economic crises, high inflation, currency instability and regular appeal to the fund’s financial assistance programs.
Ukraine, Egypt and Pakistan are among other large IMF borrowers. At the same time, a significant number of countries, mainly from Africa, have debts of less than one billion dollars.
The case of Suriname is particularly noteworthy, as it is distinguished not so much by the volume of debt as by its share in the country’s gross domestic product. This was a consequence of the economic crisis of the early 2020s.
IMF loans are usually provided during periods of financial turmoil. Among the main reasons for the appeal:
a balance of payments crisis, when the country cannot pay for imports or debts;
currency instability and a sharp devaluation of the national currency;
fiscal problems, in particular a high budget deficit and growing public debt.
Argentina has repeatedly appealed to the IMF during inflationary and currency crises, and countries such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan have received support due to debt pressure.
The IMF is financed through special drawing rights, which are the fund’s international reserve asset. Their value is formed on the basis of a basket of currencies: the US dollar, the euro, the Chinese yuan, the Japanese yen and the British pound.
Countries receive these funds in the form of distributions or loans that can be converted into major world currencies. For comparison, the figures in the statistics are converted into US dollars at an exchange rate of approximately 1 special drawing right equals 1.44 dollars.
Recently, a meeting of the World Bank and the IMF was held in the USA, dedicated to supporting Ukraine. The partners confirmed that financial assistance will remain key, and Ukraine is counting on new funds in the near future. In particular, a large loan from the EU is expected to be unblocked.
April will be more difficult for the global economy than March due to critical problems with fuel supplies due to hostilities.
