Despite bulging debt everywhere, the IMF is struggling to be helpful
The world’s lender of last resort is hampered by geopolitical tensions
IN THE ONCE-BUSTLING streets around the IMF’S headquarters in Washington, DC, you can hardly spot a soul these days. Soul-searching is also keeping officials busy inside the building. With government debt ballooning everywhere, many continue to criss-cross the globe, talking with countries that can still borrow and coaxing creditors into granting relief to those who cannot. But the world’s lender of last resort is hampered by conflict between its members—just as rising interest rates threaten to cause a big bang of defaults.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Lost and fund”
Finance & economics February 26th 2022
- The economic consequences of the war in Ukraine
- America’s tariff wall on Chinese imports looks increasingly like Swiss cheese
- Despite bulging debt everywhere, the IMF is struggling to be helpful
- Gold demand has surged in India
- The battle to modernise Italy's corporate governance
- With maverick policies, Turkey cannot hope to bring down prices
- The many virtues of the yen, the rich world’s cheapest currency
- How to avoid a fatal backlash against globalisation
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