IMF
Moving public debt onto a sustainable path
*Debt problems began before crisis, will
take years to fix
*Detailed long-term plans to reduce debt
would help protect fragile recovery
*Credible action by countries essential to
manage risks
The global economic crisis has eroded the government coffers of
advanced economies and countries will need to return debt levels to a
sustainable path to manage fiscal risks, foster long-term growth, and
create jobs in the coming years.
The IMF said governments need to develop credible fiscal plans that
focus on longer-term solutions, rather than on quick fixes, to protect
the fragile recovery and reassure financial markets.
In some cases, a marked departure from the normal historical pattern
of adjustment to rising public debt is needed to manage fiscal risks.
The research is part of the IMF’s ongoing analysis to help countries
emerge out of the crisis and return to economic growth and more
sustainable debt levels.
Long-Term
Trends in Public Finances in the G-7 Economies, Fiscal Space, and
Default in Today’s Advanced Economies: Unnecessary, Undesirable and
Unlikely provide a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal challenges faced
by different countries in the coming years.
Debt surges
“Public debt levels among advanced economies have reached levels not
seen before in the absence of a major war,” IMF’s Fiscal Affairs
Department Deputy Director and one of the authors of two of the reports
Carlo Cottarelli said.
“The most indebted economies are approaching debt limits beyond which
their fiscal positions may become unsustainable,” IMF’s Research
Department Director and author of one of the reports Jonathan D. Ostry
said.
General government debt in the G-20 advanced economies surged from 78
percent of GDP in 2007 to 97 percent of GDP in 2009 and is projected to
rise to 115 percent of GDP in 2015.
The fiscal stimulus packages put in place to combat the worst effects
of the crisis account for only one-tenth of the increase in public debt
projected during 2008-15.
While debt is high, the IMF said default on sovereign debt would make
little sense for advanced economies because the central problem in these
countries is high primary deficits, not high debt service.
At the same time, the IMF cautioned that governments need to avoid
complacency when their debt is close to its maximum sustainable level
because there may be little warning from markets ahead of a very sharp
spike in borrowing costs.
Legacy of issues
According to the global lender, the mismanagement of fiscal policy
prior to the crisis lead to insufficient reduction of government
deficits particularly during periods of strong growth and to debt
accumulation, and left a legacy of debt issues for policymakers to
address. As a result, countries will need to modify their past behaviour
and clearly define their fiscal plans for the long-term, including
pension and healthcare reforms.
A credible future course for policy that differs fundamentally from
normal historical patterns is needed when fiscal space the difference
between current and maximum sustainable public debt is limited.
While countries need to adjust their expenditures and revenues over
the coming years, how they adjust will depend on each country’s
individual economic circumstances, the IMF said.
New policies needed when fiscal space is sparse
Countries’ policy options depend in large part on how much fiscal
space they have. History is not destiny, and limits to public debt are
neither etched in stone nor a prediction that default is inevitable in
cases of limited fiscal space.
They are nevertheless a wakeup call that policy cannot proceed on a
‘business as usual’ basis.
Credible action plans are also critical because financial markets may
react with little warning in the case of countries whose fiscal space is
limited. This implies the need to target debt levels that are well below
the estimated debt limits, especially given the inevitable uncertainty
surrounding such estimates.
Without a change to rein in large primary deficits public debt will
spiral out of control, and governments could even risk their ability to
tap the capital markets for sovereign borrowing.
Higher debt levels also could create negative feedback effects
through higher interest rates and lower economic growth, putting at risk
the recovery.
The IMF’s analysis should help identify both the extent of fiscal
space remaining in advanced and the nature of fiscal strategies
including cutbacks in spending, and for some countries, raising revenues
needed to return public debt to a sustainable path and manage the risks
associated with very high public debt.
IMF
IMF orders financial stability exams for 25 top economies
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday it would require 25
major economies to undergo financial stability exams every five years in
a bid to avert global financial crises.
The IMF’s Executive board approved the move to switch from voluntary
assessments to mandatory in-depth reviews for the world’s top 25
financial sectors, the IMF said in a statement.
The 25 economies were chosen based on the size of their financial
sectors and their links with financial sectors in other countries, said
the 187-nation institution.
In addition to the developed powerhouses such as the United States,
Japan, Canada, Germany and other western European countries, the new
mandatory review affects developing and emerging economies such as
China, Hong Kong, Brazil, India, Mexico and Russia.
The group represents almost 90 percent of the global financial system
and 80 percent of global economic activity, the IMF noted.
The stability assessments are a component of the IMF’s Financial
Sector Assessment Program, which the Washington-based agency had offered
on a voluntary basis to member countries.
The executive board decision makes the stability review mandatory for
the 25 economies with “systemically important financial sectors” in an
effort to contain financial risks as the global economy recovers from a
severe financial crisis, the IMF said.
“The board’s decision represents an important part of the
international community’s response to the recent crisis and will
buttress our ability to exercise surveillance over a key aspect of the
global economic machinery the financial system,” John Lipsky, first
Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, said in the statement.
The IMF’s Financial Sector Assessment Program, created after the
Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, aims at detecting risks to a
healthy financial sector in a particular country. The first programs
were done in 2001.
The results are published by countries on a voluntary basis. The
United States, at the center of the global financial crisis that erupted
in 2007, faced criticism for its unwillingness to undergo an assessment
until late 2009.
AFP
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