IMF Says Spending Cuts or Debt Restructuring Are the Only Options

15-Oct-2026

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that, under the current circumstances, low-income and developing countries affected by disruptions to fuel supplies arising from conflicts in the Middle East have few options other than reducing expenditure or undertaking debt restructuring.

Speaking to an international media outlet on the sidelines of the IMF’s annual meetings in Bangkok, Petya Koeva Brooks, Deputy Director of the IMF’s Research Department, said that heavily indebted countries reliant on fuel imports were being severely affected by the current fuel crisis.

She also expressed concern that these countries were being forced to make difficult decisions to protect their populations from the effects of the crisis.

“Unfortunately, the global economy has continued to be affected by various shocks, resulting in a substantial increase in countries’ debt burdens. At the same time, inflation has become a major concern,” she said.

Brooks noted that the measures proposed by the IMF to address the crisis were applicable to most countries around the world.

However, she cautioned that countries in particularly vulnerable positions would have to make extremely difficult decisions and sacrifices to manage the consequences.