The International Monetary Organization, established in 1945, currently has 190 member countries for global monetary cooperation and financial stability.
When the country is actually facing a bankruptcy crisis, the place that is widely known as a lender of last resort is the International Monetary Fund, the IMF. As a result, it may be thought that there are not many countries that receive IMF loans, but this is not the case.
As of December 15, 2023, the outstanding liabilities owed to the IMF by countries around the world in terms of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) amounted to a staggering $111.8 billion.
In fact, there are 95 countries with outstanding liabilities owed by the IMF. So, which countries currently have the most outstanding liabilities from the IMF?Let's take a look at the top 10 countries today.
Kenya is currently facing a serious liquidity crisis due to increased uncertainty about its ability to finance its $2 billion Eurobond due in June next year.
The aftermath of the drought caused by the pandemic and climate change has pushed Kenya's economy into a quagmire. In response, Kenya recently reached an agreement with the IMF to expand the IMF's support program by about $900 million. Kenya currently has an outstanding IMF debt of $2 billion.
In 2019, Côte d'Ivoire ended the IMF's three-year aid program. But coincidentally, in 2023 Ivorian ** Alassane de la Mane Ouattara hopes to reach a new agreement with the IMF.
The economic situation is severe due to the Russia-Ukraine war and global austerity. Finally, in May of this year, the IMF approved $3.5 billion in aid to Côte d'Ivoire under a planned 40-month aid package.
Currently, Côte d'Ivoire's outstanding IMF liabilities include some of the new loans that have been added in the last 15 days, amounting to $2 billion.
South Africa is considered one of the developed countries in Africa, but it has been hit hard by the pandemic.
As a result, South Africa has borrowed $1 billion from the New Development Bank of the BRIC countries, $300 million from the African Development Bank, and $4.3 billion in emergency support from the IMF.
However, in June 2023, the IMF warned of a slowdown in South Africa's economic growth, weakening investment confidence, and a serious energy and logistics crisis. In addition, the IMF also pointed to lower electricity tariffs, reduced taxes, high wages, and increased loan costs. South Africa currently has more than $2.6 billion in outstanding IMF liabilities.
Angola signed a three-year medium-term loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2018 for US$3.7 billion. Although Angola is considered one of the major oil producers in Africa, the economic situation is not optimistic due to severe inflation and high debt.
Subsequently, Angola introduced a series of policies under the plan. Unfortunately, however, after the outbreak of the pandemic, inflation fell and Angola suffered another major blow. Currently, Angola owes more than US$3 billion to the IMF.
Colombia has a long history of being supported by the IMF since the 1950s. In particular, in 2016, a US$11.5 billion flexible loan arrangement contract was signed with the IMF to address the liquidity shortfall.
Despite this, the IMF assessed Colombia in April as having strong policy and economic fundamentals, but they also noted that there is still uncertainty about the increase in external risk factors, including the Russia-Ukraine war. Colombia currently has more than $3.7 billion in outstanding IMF debt.
In 2019, Pakistan reached a $6.5 billion bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, due to the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war and domestic issues, Pakistan is still in a state of foreign exchange crisis.
Although a $6.5 billion bailout agreement was reached, it was structured in phases based on the implementation of the project, owing to disagreements over the implementation plan. As a result, payments have been put on hold due to disagreements over improvement plans.
To this end, Pakistan** has largely accepted the IMF's terms by introducing a free market floating exchange rate, raising electricity and natural gas prices**, tightening the sector, raising the benchmark interest rate, and raising the surcharge on imported goods.
As a result, Pakistan and the IMF reached an agreement to resume the previously interrupted $3 billion in short-term relief financial disbursements in June 2023, just as the bailout package was about to be put on hold. Currently, Pakistan has an outstanding IMF debt of $5.8 billion.
Ecuador has the fourth-largest outstanding external debt from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), accounting for a large share of aid in 2020. In 2020, after declaring default, Ecuador agreed to receive $6.5 billion in bailouts from the IMF for 27 months.
Ecuador** successfully implemented this plan through bailout programs such as increasing revenues, controlling spending, and advancing structural reform legislation, and received $700 million in support from the IMF at the end of 2022.
However, the debt that needs to be repaid remains, and there is currently $5.9 billion left.
In 1998, Ukraine received a medium-term credit of $2.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 2010, the company decided to provide an additional support of about USD 15.1 billion, but it was terminated in 2011 on the grounds that efforts to improve it were insufficient.
Of course, since then, Ukraine has again entered into several support agreements with the IMF. Most recently, in March this year, Ukraine made history by signing a four-year, $15.6 billion financial assistance agreement with the IMF.
This is because for the first time in history, the IMF has decided to provide support to countries at war based on the prospects that Ukraine has expected to achieve in terms of gradual economic recovery and infrastructure restoration. Currently, Ukraine owes more than $9.1 billion to the IMF.
In 2011, the Egyptian economy faced many problems due to the outbreak of the revolution and the reduction of revenues from the Suez Canal. Finally, in 2016, Egypt received $12 billion in bailout finance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, due to the pandemic, Egypt received $2.7 billion in emergency aid from the IMF in May 2020 and another $5.2 billion in standby loans in June of the same year.
Separately, Egypt has reached an additional agreement with the IMF to secure a $3 billion medium-term loan over 46 months due to a sharp drop in foreign exchange due to the Russia-Ukraine war. As a result of Egypt's repeated bailouts from the IMF, its current outstanding debt is approaching $12 billion.
Argentina has long been regarded as a regular visitor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has a long history with the IMF. A total of 22 bailouts were received during this period, and the crisis persisted.
Despite the political chaos in Argentina, Néstor Carlos Kirchner paid off the entire IMF's debt when he came to power in 2006. However, in 2018, during the reign of Mauricio Macri**, the crisis struck again, with Argentina striking an all-time high of $56 billion in bailout financial deals with the IMF, of which $44 billion was approved.
Since then, Alberto Ángel Fernández, who came to power in 2019, has also pushed for a change in the repayment terms when he judges that he will not be able to repay the IMF's debts.
In addition, Argentina, under the leadership of Javier Milley**, who took office this year, has decided to accept financial support from the Central and South American Development Bank in order to repay the $900 million IMF bailout finance due on the 21st, but the crisis has not been completely resolved. Argentina currently has $31.1 billion in outstanding IMF debt.