IMF official Jose Vinals

The International Monetary Fund has warned that “global financial stability is not yet assured”.

The note of caution came from senior IMF official Jose Vinals, as he presented the organisation’s latest Global Financial Stability Report. But the nature of the danger has changed, he said.

Financial stability in advanced economies has improved, but risks have moved towards emerging economies, Mr Vinals explained.

The shift in the focus of the IMF’s concern partly reflects issues raised in the fund’s report about the wider global economic outlook published on Tuesday.

One of the key messages in that analysis was that emerging and developing economies are experiencing their fifth consecutive year of slowing economic growth.

That is one of the key factors behind the increased risks to their financial stability.

Company and bank finances are “stretched thinner in many emerging markets”, the report says. The IMF estimates there is $3.3 trillion in what it calls “overborrowing” by companies and banks in emerging markets.

China, Thailand, Turkey and Brazil are identified as countries where credit has expanded markedly compared with past trends.