The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the economic pressures resulting from the new tariffs imposed by the United States will cause global public debt to rise to levels exceeding those recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching nearly 100 percent of global GDP by the end of the decade.The IMF explained in a report issued Wednesday that the slowdown in economic growth and global trade is exacerbating pressures on countries' budgets and contributing to an increase in public debt levels around the world.The report forecasts that global public debt will grow by 2.8 percentage points to 95.1 percent of global GDP in 2025, noting that the upward trend will likely continue to reach 99.6 percent of global GDP by 2030.The report stated that the average annual fiscal deficit for countries is expected to reach 5.1 percent of GDP in 2025, compared to 5 percent in 2024, 3.7 percent in 2022, and 9.5 percent in 2020.Global public debt peaked in 2020 at 98.9 percent of GDP as countries resorted to borrowing massive amounts to cope with the repercussions of COVID-19 and the contraction of production.Debt fell by 10 percentage points over two years, but it has begun to rise again, and the latest forecasts indicate that it is accelerating.
