Middle East war, high debt levels to dominate IMF-World Bank meetings in Bangkok
Finance officials from around the world will gather in Bangkok this week for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, with a widening Middle East war, the biggest-ever energy supply shock and rising interest rates posing risks to already-sluggish global economic growth. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said 18,000 people were registered to attend, 4,000 more than the last off-site meetings in Morocco in October 2023, while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be absent and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Kevin Warsh will attend. World Bank President Ajay Banga said global growth had held up better than feared when Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, but pressures were building again, and the IMF says public debt is at the highest level since World War Two and will exceed 100% of GDP before 2030.
Why it matters: The meetings put the briefing's debt theme at the centre, as public debt at its highest since World War Two and $400 billion in external payments due in 2026 constrain emerging-market growth.