IMF needs to see the bigger picture - that debt can choke off growth

Thinktank says the world's major economies risk a long period of low growth unless governments do more

One moment the International Monetary Fund is a thinktank, musing on economic problems such as the entrenched slow growth that could face developed nations - as it did on Tuesday in some early releases from its spring forecasts (full publication next week).

The next moment its role as lender of last resort takes the spotlight - and in that capacity another crunch moment arrives on Thursday when Greece either pays or reneges on a450m (330m) it owes the Washington-based organisation.