FILE PHOTO: International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva attends an International Monetary and Financial Committee press briefing at the 2025 annual IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Monday said the IMF will continue to push the Group of 20 major economies to focus on persistent debt issues burdening developing economies.

Georgieva, speaking at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, said the impact of U.S. tariffs had been less dramatic than expected, but uncertainty remained high.

"Growth is slow, debt is high and the risks of financial downturn are quite permanent. They are there," she said, adding that countries needed to be "much, much, much more focused on bringing debt levels down."

Global public debt is expected to exceed 100% of GDP by 2029, Georgieva said last week.

Georgieva said the IMF was working intensively with the World Bank on helping countries that might not have unsustainable debt levels but faced severe liquidity problems, and would also try to keep debt issues on the radar at the G20.

"You will see us continue to engage with the G20," she said. "We want this to be high on the attention span ... Please, this is a priority."

South Africa, current president of the G20, has made debt sustainability a key pillar of its year at the helm. The United States, which will take over the G20 presidency in December, has not signaled great interest in the issue thus far.

Georgieva said it was critical to recognize that countries needed to grow out of debt, which highlighted the need for job creation and ensuring access to technology.

Developing countries, already saddled with high debt levels, have faced additional burdens given U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. The World Bank in April said half of some 150 developing countries are either unable to make debt service payments or at risk of getting there.

Total debt in emerging markets rose by $3.4 trillion in the second quarter to a record of more than $109 trillion, according to recent data from the Institute of International Finance.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal;)