On Thursday, economist Steve Hanke issued a new scathing critique of the International Monetary Fund’s policy, saying it was burying countries under a mountain of debt.
In his tweet on Twitter, the prominent lecturer at Johns Hopkins University published a graph showing the six countries most in debt from the International Monetary Fund. Argentina topped the list with total debts amounting to $32.3 billion, followed by Egypt with a total outstanding debt balance of $13.3 billion In dollars, Ukraine came in third place with a debt of $9 billion, followed by Ecuador, Pakistan and Colombia with outstanding debt balances of $6.1, 5.6 and 3.8 billion.
None of the aforementioned countries paid any debts to the IMF during last May, with the exception of Egypt, which was not late on its payment dates.
“Contrary to the claims of the IMF, the programs it offers are the perfect way to impede growth and sink under a mountain of debt,” Hankey said.
The Argentine economy is suffering under the weight of debt, as the Argentine Institute of Statistics had announced that the annual inflation rate had recorded 94.8 percent in 2022, and analysts expected that the exchange rate of the Argentine peso would decrease to 330.47 pesos against a US dollar by the end of the year.
Debt interests eat up 37 percent of the Egyptian general budget, in addition to representing 52 percent of revenues.
The Egyptian government expects the value of debt interest paid in the new fiscal year to reach $36.2 billion, an increase of 30.8 percent over the current fiscal year.
2023-06-01 08:33:23
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