Big Take Podcast

Iran and Global Debt Cloud IMF-World Bank Meetings

On today’s Big Take podcast, attendees at the IMF-World Bank’s gathering grapple with a global growth downgrade and whether governments can respond to the next crisis.

Jose Luis de Haro, from left, Pierre Olivier Gourinchas, Petya Koeva-Brooks, and Deniz Igan, during a news conference on the world economic outlook during the IMF Spring meetings in Washington on April 14.Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg

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By David Fox and David Gura

April 16, 2026 at 8:13 PM UTC

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The atmosphere was grim at this week’s IMF and World Bank spring meetings, as global central bankers grappled with economic shocks from the war in Iran, AI and mounting debt.