GLOBAL DEBT $164 TRILLION : IMF

WASHINGTON : The International Monetary Fund [IMF] launched its database of public and private borrowing on Monday, noting -

That worldwide debt has now reached a new record high of $164 trillion equal to 225 percent of global GDP.

This surpasses the previous high of 213 percent recorded in 2009.

The database covers both public and private borrowing of 190 countries, which virtually covers the entire world and dates back to the 1950s.

In April the IMF warned that the world economy was more indebted now than before the global financial crisis [GFC] more than a decade ago and immediate action is needed to stop the next downturn.

The IMF notes that the most indebted economies in the world are also the richer one.

''It is nonetheless striking that the top 2016 three borrowers in the world - the United States, China and Japan - account for more than half of the global debt, significantly greater than their share of global output,'' the report adds.