The International Monetary Fund has issued its sternest warning to date on the risk from China’s rising debt burden, urged more aggressive action to curb credit growth and subject state-owned enterprises to the discipline of the market.
IMF deputy managing director David Lipton presented the fund’s annual assessment of China’s economy on Tuesday in Beijing, days after a speech in Shenzhen warning of possible risk spillovers to the broader global economy.
“Corporate debt, though still manageable, is high and rising fast. Addressing the corporate debt problem is imperative to avoid serious problems down the road,” the IMF said in its so-called Article 4 report.