Looming Debt Wall in Emerging Markets Raises Pressure on IMF (1)

A liquidity crunch is brewing across the developing world, raising pressure on US-backed international financial institutions to help poor nations meet mounting debt repayments and drive much-needed investments.

The Washington-based International Monetary Fund and World Bank last week unveiled a three-pronged approach to help countries deal with a wall of maturities due over the next three years. The poorest nations have to pay more than $290 billion in foreign debt in the coming years, and billions more to domestic lenders, according to World Bank data.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at a press briefing during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, DC, on Oct. 25.

Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg

There’s growing concern that without short-term financing and longer-term fixes, the situation risks tipping ...