Advanced economies including the UK and US must reduce borrowing and debt after government interest costs surged, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva warned. She called for fiscal consolidation (reducing government deficits and debt) and price stability, while saying reforms were needed because governments lacked the cash to support growth directly. UK borrowing reached £18.3bn ($24.4bn) in August, nearly a fifth above the previous year and above official forecasts, while monthly debt interest reached its highest August level since records began in 1997. US debt has surpassed $40tn, doubling within a decade. Bond yields have risen as inflation concerns reduce real returns and technology companies compete for funding to develop artificial intelligence. Georgieva also warned that AI systems operating beyond safe control could become a financial stability risk, while the global economy remains caught between an energy price shock and AI investment. A durable recovery in Gulf oil and gas exports, which has not yet occurred, would be an important step toward economic normalisation, she said.