Summary Public debt to return to nearly 100% in 2028Growth in debt dominated by U.S., China39 low-income countries in or near debt distressWASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - Public debt is higher and growing faster than projected before the COVID-19 pandemic, driven mainly by the United States and China, the world's two largest economies, the International Monetary Fund's top fiscal expert said on Wednesday. Vitor Gaspar, director of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, said global public debt soared to almost 100% of GDP in 2020 before posting its steepest drop in 70 years by 2022, although it remained about 8 percentage points above the pre-pandemic level. The IMF's report warned that risks were high, and reducing debt vulnerabilities should be an "overriding priority," especially in low-income developing countries where 39 countries were already in or near debt distress. To guard against further and worsening problems, regulators should consider strengthening crisis management frameworks and their regimes for dealing with troubled institutions. "Among the worst possible crises, are crises where you have a financial crisis simultaneously with a sovereign debt crisis, and that is something labeled as the doom loop," Gaspar said.

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