Transcript of the Press Conference on the Release of the October 2016 Fiscal Monitor
Washington, D.C.-October 5, 2016
Participants:
Vitor Gaspar, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department
Abdelhak Senhadji, Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department
Catherine Pattillo, Assistant Director, Fiscal Affairs Department
Wiktor Krzyzanowski, Senior Communications Officer, Communications Department
Mr. Krzyzanowski: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the press conference on the IMF's Fiscal Monitor. Thank you very much for joining us this morning. My name is Wiktor Krzyzanowski and I'm with the IMF Communications Department.
Let me introduce the speakers: Vitor Gaspar, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department, Abdelhak Senhadji, Deputy Director in the Fiscal Affairs Department, and Catherine Pattillo, Assistant Director in the Fiscal Affairs Department.
You have received the Fiscal Monitor, and all supporting documents. I will now ask Mr. Gaspar to make short introductory remarks and then we will be ready to answer any questions you may have.
Mr. Gaspar: Thank you for being here and for your interest in our work. As you know from the World Economic Outlook, world growth is weak and uneven. It is a far cry from the G20 ambition of strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. This fall, the Fiscal Monitor is very timely, because it focuses on debt – one of the major headwinds against growth in the world economy. You have received a long written version of my introductory remarks, so I will not read it out. I will just mention some key take‑aways.
The Fiscal Monitor puts together a novel database covering 113 countries. It finds that global debt is at record highs and rising. Global debt is 152 trillion dollars, or 225 percent of GDP. Two thirds of this debt is private.
