IMF warns of 'intensified' risks to public finances amid trade war

Donald Trump's tariff plans have increased the risks to public finances, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, warning countries to get their spending plans under control and prepare for “sharper” trade-offs.

- Agence France-Presse

The US president's on-again, off-again introduction of levies against top trading partners has sent market volatility soaring and unnerved investors, who are attempting to chart a path through the increased uncertainty.

Over the past six months, “global economic prospects have significantly deteriorated, and risks to the economic output are elevated and tilted to the downside” Vitor Gaspar, the head of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs department, told reporters on Wednesday at the launch of the Fund’s Fiscal Monitor report.

The forecast for public finances was published as part of the Fund and the World Bank’s Spring Meetings of global financial leaders currently under way in Washington.

Under its new projections, which incorporate some -- but not all ~ of the recently announced tariffs, the IMF now expects global general government debt to rise to more than 95 percent of economic output this year, and to approach 100 percent of GDP by 2030.