Raghuram Rajan, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, has expressed concern about the growing public debt and cautioned that nations, including the US, need to act to keep growing borrowing from becoming a serious vulnerability, particularly as pandemics and other global crises become more common.

Rajan emphasized to reporters in Rome that nations that keep accruing debt run the danger of being unprepared for future crises. He cited the current epidemic and the global financial crisis as instances of unforeseen shocks.

Rajan said, “We can’t be satisfied with building up debt,” reiterating his view that countries should prioritize debt reduction in order to preserve their financial stability. He notably criticized the US, pointing out that current IMF projections support the country’s debt trajectory, which is expected to increase gradually. When US President-elect Donald Trump is deciding who to choose to oversee the nation’s mounting debt when he returns to office, Rajan’s remarks are made.

By the end of this year, the IMF projects that the world’s public debt will have grown to $100 trillion, or 93% of its GDP, mostly due to debt buildup in the US and China. Even while the IMF admits that countries may have an opportunity to balance their budgets as interest rates fall and inflation slows, Rajan warned that there is not enough urgency to solve the problem.

Reducing public debt is essential to provide countries a safety net in times of need, Rajan said. In addition to limiting a nation’s capacity to react to emergencies, high debt levels also make international cooperation more difficult.

In order to create a more robust global economy, Rajan suggested reforming international institutions and opening up new trade channels, such services trade and climate action.