# Treasury Counselor Questions IMF's Forecast Record as U.S. Debt Tops $40T By Riza Dagoc Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/32630 Published: 2026-10-15T16:43:55.000Z Updated: 2026-10-15T16:43:55.000Z Section: Regulation > Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said growth alone would not put federal debt on a sustainable path. She was responding to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's August comment about growing out of a rising debt-to-… David Zervos, newly appointed counselor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, questioned the International Monetary Fund's forecasting record Thursday as U.S. debt topped $40 trillion and 10-year Treasury yields stayed above 5%. Zervos said the IMF should review its past forecasts before criticizing U.S. fiscal policy. His remarks came after IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Wednesday that strong U.S. growth alone would not put mounting federal debt on a sustainable path and called for fiscal measures. Georgieva spoke at the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok. She was responding to Bessent's August comment that the U.S. could “grow our way out” of a rising debt-to-GDP ratio. Zervos pointed to several past IMF assessments he viewed as inaccurate. He said the fund forecast 3% global growth in 2008 before the first global contraction in the postwar period a year later, and had been positive on Southeast Asia before its 1997 collapse. He also criticized the IMF's outlook on Russia in 2022, its assessment of Argentina after a $57 billion bailout, and its views on Greece and U.S. inflation. Zervos said Russia barely saw a growth decline before returning to strong growth, while Argentina was effectively in default again by 2020. Many economists warn that rising U.S. interest payments and large deficits increase the risk of an unsustainable debt spiral. They differ on whether that could lead to a fiscal crisis. The exchange comes amid the IMF's broader warning that public debt and AI-related borrowing could contribute to [a disorderly rise in bond yields](). ## Links in this article - [a disorderly rise in bond yields](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/30774)