global government debt is on track to reach levels not seen since the height of the covid19 pandemic the international monetary fund imf warned on wednesday china and the united states are responsible for the vast majority of the expected debt increase over the next five years the head of the imfs fiscal affairs department vitor gaspar told afp in an interview he was speaking ahead of the publication of the imfs fiscal monitor report on wednesday morning we have in 2023 a situation where public debt is higher than what was expected prepandemic he said public debt is also expected to grow more quickly than was predicted before the prepandemic he added in the us government debt as a percentage of economic output  its debttogdp ratio  is expected to surpass its pandemicera peak by 2027 gaspar said china meanwhile is expected to see its debttogdp ratio rise every year its debt burden is forecast to be almost double its prepandemic levels by 2028 according to the imf this is largely due to chinas transition from an exportdriven economy towards one fueled by domestic demand gaspar said aside from the us china and a few other countries most other nations debt burdens are on a more positive path over the medium term more than 60 of countries have declining debttogdp ratios over the next five years gaspar said in response to rising global debt the imf is making the strong case for fiscal tightening he said fiscal tightening would allow monetary policy to lower inflation without such sharp increases in interest rates he said it also allows for a better distribution of costs throughout the society he said