IMF chief urges governments to tighten belts as global debt levels soar

Kristalina Georgieva, before the start of the IMF–World Bank annual meeting in Singapore, said economic policy chiefs could not keep delaying action. Photograph: Simon Lim/EPA

The head of the International Monetary Fund has called on governments across big economies to tighten their belts as soaring bond yields hit budgets.

Speaking in Singapore, the IMF’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said global debt-to-GDP ratios were at their highest level since the second world war and on course to hit 100% in the coming years.