Central bankers and financial delegates have gathered in Washington, DC this week for the annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings, which conclude on Saturday.
Discussions this week have focused on global economic headwinds, as the IMF warns of signs of distress following US trade tariffs and protectionism.
The IMF is widely seen as a “lender of last resort”, only stepping in when countries face severe financial crises and cannot access usual borrowing channels. Its loans, however, often come with strict conditions which can result in austerity measures and deepen social and economic hardships, making the loans a double-edged sword.
What is the IMF and how does it fund itself?
Founded in 1944 during World War II at the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire, US, the IMF was established to help stabilise the post-war global economy. Now based in Washington, DC, it has since grown from 44 founding members to 191 today and works closely with the United Nations and other international organisations to support global financial stability.
It does this by providing policy advice, short-term financial assistance and capacity development to countries and institutions.
Any country can join the IMF if approved by existing members and by paying a quota based on the size of its economy, with wealthier countries contributing more. This quota is used to set how much the country contributes, how much it can borrow and how much voting power it has.
How big is the IMF’s fund?
Overall, the IMF has a total lending capacity of about $1 trillion.
When the IMF lends money, it draws on the pooled resources of its member countries. Wealthier and more stable economies often act as creditors, supplying the funds the IMF uses to provide loans. In return, these creditor countries earn interest on their contributions.
In 2024, about 50 creditor nations received approximately $5bn collectively in interest.
Which countries owe the most money to the IMF?
The amount of money owed to the IMF is typically expressed as Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the IMF’s own unit of account based on a basket of five currencies – the US dollar, euro, pound sterling, the Chinese renminbi and the Japanese yen.
While SDRs are not a currency, countries can exchange them for the currencies mentioned above. As of October 15, one SDR was equivalent to $1.36.
The IMF currently has the highest-ever total credit outstanding. The chart below shows how much money has been owed to the IMF over the past 40 years.
In total, 86 countries owe the IMF SDR 118.9 billion, roughly equivalent to $162bn.
The three countries that owe the most make up almost half of the total, while the top 10 countries owe 73 percent.
The chart below shows the 86 countries which owe money to the IMF, broken down by region.
Argentina owes the most to the IMF, with SDR 41.8 billion (about $57bn) in outstanding credit, followed by Ukraine with SDR 10.4 billion ($14bn) and Egypt with SDR 6.9 billion ($9bn).
Why does Argentina owe so much?
Argentina is the IMF’s largest borrower, with its debt exceeding the combined total of the following seven countries – Ukraine, Egypt, Pakistan, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Bangladesh.
In April, the IMF approved its 23rd programme to Argentina with a $20bn bailout programme to help prop up the economy.
Argentina’s history with the IMF is marked by repeated borrowing – it is the recipient of the most bailouts in the history of the IMF. In 2018, the country secured a $57bn loan – the largest in IMF history – to address fiscal imbalances after facing a currency crisis and double-digit inflation.
In October 2025, the Trump administration announced a $20bn financial support package for Argentina, aimed at stabilising the country’s economy before its October 26 midterm elections. The package includes a $20bn currency swap with Argentina’s central bank, providing US dollars in exchange for pesos to bolster the nation’s foreign currency reserves.
Why does Ukraine owe the IMF more than $14bn?
Ukraine’s economy tanked after Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and its external debt is now more than double what it was before the war began. The country’s total government-guaranteed debt reached $152bn by the end of April, according to the Reuters news agency, with more than 70 percent ($108.4bn) constituting external obligations.
In March 2023, the IMF approved a four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) worth $15.5bn, which was part of a broader international support package to help stabilise Ukraine’s economy and support civilian spending and debt servicing due to the country’s high expenditure on weapons.
As of October, Ukraine has received $10.6bn out of the planned $15.5bn for 2023-2027 under the EFF arrangement.
Why does Egypt owe the third-most?
Egypt has had to borrow from the IMF on numerous occasions to stabilise its economy as a result of high debt and fiscal deficits. It has also faced shortages of foreign currency reserves and is tackling high inflation.
In 2016, the IMF approved programmes under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Egypt worth $11.9bn following longstanding economic issues in the shadow of the 2011 uprising, including an overvalued currency, slow growth and high unemployment. The aim of the IMF’s programme was to fix these issues via a flexible exchange rate and inflation control, raising taxes and cutting subsidies and wages.
In March, the IMF approved the disbursement of $1.2bn to Egypt after completing a fourth review of the country’s $8bn economic reform programme. Egypt reported that inflation had almost halved in February, helped by financial reforms taken as part of the IMF financial support agreement.
Which countries owe the IMF the most money as a share of their GDP?
While IMF loans run into the billions of dollars, they usually make up only a small part of a country’s total debt and gross domestic product (GDP).
As a share of GDP, the countries with the most debt to the IMF are: Suriname (13 percent), Central African Republic (9.4 percent), Argentina (8.3 percent), Barbados (7.4 percent) and The Gambia (6.95 percent).
The table below shows each country’s IMF debt and its share of GDP. Click on the “IMF credit as % of GDP” column to see which countries owe the most relative to their economy.
