On the sidelines of its 2023 Annual Meetings with the World Bank, the IMF reports a clear fall in global debt at the end of 2022 (-8% compared to its 2029 level) in the latest edition of its published Fiscal Monitor.

Due to economic contraction and the substantial aid granted by governments, budget deficits have decreased with the end of exceptional support measures, after a historic surge in public debt to nearly 100% of GDP in 2020. This is what the International Monetary Fund (IMF) notes in the latest edition of its Fiscal Monitor, published on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the Fund and the World Bank in Washington, DC. According to the publication, “due to strong nominal GDP growth over the period 2021—22, global debt recorded its largest decline in 70 years: at the end of 2022, it stood at around 92% of GDP, still around eight percentage points above the level at the end of 2019

According to the Fund, primary deficits are rapidly decreasing and approaching pre-pandemic levels in many countries, while overall deficits are falling slightly less due to increased interest payments.