IMF (Photo: REUTERS / Yuri Gripas)
Dozens of countries are turning to the International Monetary Fund as economic pressure strains public finances. IMF borrowing is common in times of crisis, but some countries owe the Fund far more than others.
Visualcapitalist reported the figures, citing IMF data.
The IMF’s largest borrowers:
- Argentina is by far the Fund’s biggest debtor, with a debt burden unmatched by any other borrower and nearly four times larger than Ukraine’s.
- Argentina’s outstanding IMF loans exceed $60 billion, reflecting years of inflation crises, currency instability and repeated IMF programs.
- Ukraine, Egypt and Pakistan are the next-largest borrowers after Argentina. Ukraine owes $15.481 billion.
- Many countries, most of them in Africa, owe the IMF less than $1 billion.
Countries typically turn to the IMF during economic shocks. Those situations usually fall into several categories:
- Balance of payments crisis: when a country cannot pay for imports or meet external debt obligations.
- Currency instability: a sharp devaluation of the national currency or depletion of foreign exchange reserves.
- Fiscal imbalances: a large budget deficit and rapidly rising public debt.
Argentina has repeatedly turned to the IMF during inflation and currency shocks, while countries such as Sri Lanka and Pakistan have sought support under severe pressure from external debt.
Unlike conventional loans, IMF financing is denominated in special drawing rights, or SDRs, an international reserve asset created by the Fund.
SDRs are based on a basket of major currencies:
- U.S. dollar;
- euro;
- Chinese yuan;
- Japanese yen;
- British pound.
Countries receive allocations or loans in SDRs, which can be exchanged for major global currencies. For this dataset, the IMF converted the figures into U.S. dollars at roughly 1 SDR = $1.44.
The first review of the IMF’s new Extended Fund Facility program for Ukraine for 2026–2029 is scheduled for June. If the review is successful, Ukraine could receive $686 million.
Ukraine’s state and state-guaranteed debt increased by UAH 1.46 trillion ($20.7 billion) in hryvnia terms in 2024, earlier reports said.
The increase was driven mainly by expanded long-term concessional financing from international partners.
In September 2024, Ukraine’s Finance Ministry said the country’s public debt had fallen by $9 billion after restructuring.
The IMF forecasts that Ukraine’s total public debt will rise to 110% of gross domestic product in 2025.
As of June 30, 2025, Ukraine’s state and state-guaranteed debt stood at UAH 7.69695 trillion, or $184.84 billion.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, Ukraine’s state and state-guaranteed debt stood at UAH 8.02 trillion, or $194.2 billion.
In April 2026, Ukrainian authorities reached an agreement with international creditors to defer public debt payments until 2030, easing pressure on the budget and allowing funds to be directed toward defense and national reconstruction.
Debt repayments will begin in equal installments from 2035 to 2039, through equal semiannual payments, with interest to be capitalized.
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