IMF chief urges US and wealthy nations to rein in debt to ease global economic pressure

BANGKOK (AP) — The U.S. and other wealthy nations need to urgently tackle mounting global debt levels that are weighing most heavily on low-income countries and straining the global financial system, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other U.S. leaders recognize that the federal deficit and national debt are too high. But economic growth alone would not be enough to address the country’s more than $40 trillion in national debt, she said.Meanwhile, rising bond yields, reflecting higher premiums demanded by investors for taking on greater risk, have been disrupting financial markets.“We believe that growth, of course, helps, but it cannot deliver fast enough the necessary adjustments,” Georgieva said at the autumn meeting of the IMF and World Bank in Bangkok.“There is no magic,” she said, adding that other measures would be needed. “You have to go in a direction of tightening, br