The world’s financial elite wrapped up a week of meetings in Bangkok on Friday filled with warnings of an unbalanced AI boom, a prolonged energy shock and record debt piles.

It was the first time in 35 years that Thailand has hosted the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings, using the gathering to show off its celebrated cuisine as well-dressed bankers, officials and journalists navigated a heavy police presence, sporadic protests and gridlocked traffic, with motorbike taxis offering the quickest way around town at the risk of getting caught in a thunderstorm. Here are some of the key takeaways from the event: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent skipped the meetings, sending his deputy Francis Brooke instead.

The US holds the G20 presidency this year, making Bessent’s decision notable as the group held a meeting on the sidelines. That left Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh as the most senior US official in attendance.

Warsh, appearing Friday in a curated chat with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, said nothing to dispel market expectations that the Fed will hold rates at its meeting later this month. As he was talking, expectations for a hike dropped to about 17%, from roughly 30%.

For the rest of the US crew, the aim was to get the IMF to focus more on China.

“A central part of our discussions this week has focused on the IMF’s responsibility to address global imbalances and exchange rate policies,” said Erin Browne, Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, using coded language for what Washington sees as Beijing’s impacts. “The fund must be more assertive in identifying these distortions and addressing the beggar-thy-neighbor policies that contribute to them.”Bessent hosted many of the same G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Asheville, North Carolina, a little more than six weeks ago. There, too, the US sought to isolate China by highlighting its trade surplus.

Bond yields were squarely in focus heading into the week, as long-term borrowing costs surged for several developed economies, including the US and France. The IMF tagged spiking yields as its top risk to financial stability.

There were other reasons for the Bangkok set to be spooked, including the knock-on effect for poorer countries. That’s because they borrow at a premium to Treasuries. Richer countries too could also take a hit, as they refinance old debt at new, higher rates. All of that redirects more cash toward interest and less to other spending priorities like health, education and infrastructure. Yields retreated through the week, however, relieving some of that stress — but only just a little.

Heading into the meetings, Georgieva called out richer countries as being “the worst offenders” of high debt levels, and then took aim at Bessent’s plan to grow the US out of its troubles. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde agreed the issue needed to be tackled by Washington, but also flagged the impact from the other big risk this week: AI, and the massive funding needs diverting cash away from sovereigns.

“I would simply observe that there is very strong competition for financing,” she said. “When you look at how much the hyperscalers and the whole AI ecosystem is looking for, and how much the sovereigns are looking for in terms of long-term financing — there is a very high demand.”AI dominated a lot of the discussions — from regulation, the impact on jobs and, of course, fears of a market correction. The IMF cited the AI boom as a key driver helping offset drags from high energy prices, but warned that an abrupt end to AI-related investment would trigger a selloff in assets and tighter financial conditions across economies.

Georgieva described the disruptive threat from artificial intelligence to the labor market and taxation as a “slow-moving tsunami,” while the Fed’s Warsh leaned into the productivity gains he expects to see.

Anthropic Co-Founder Jack Clark said it was “one of the central responsibilities” for AI companies to share data on where the technology is adding and taking away jobs. “There will be sectors of the economy where you see an empirical correlation between AI and weakness in those job markets, and then that becomes a policy question,” he said. “And I think we have to share that data so that we all make better empirical decisions.”

Georgieva admitted to spending “many sleepless nights” about how to ensure AI safety, and urged the top countries involved to work with businesses to create guardrails. “I don’t think there is any way for governments to regulate technology that is changing so rapidly,” she added. “Governments don’t know enough.”Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China, made a rare appearance on the sidelines of the meetings to tout yuan assets to investors. The 30-minute closed-door address was hosted by Deutsche Bank AG at a luxury hotel, where there was standing room only for at least a third of the more than 250 invited guests.

For Pan, it was one of the most high-profile international events of recent years, and his choice to speak in English highlights his desire to woo global investors. According to people who attended and asked not to be identified, Pan promised to align rules for yuan bonds more closely with global standards, and to promote their acceptance as eligible collateral at major international clearing houses.

The IMF said this week the yuan weakness reflects insufficient steps to revive domestic demand. “They need to be a lot more ambitious to address the imbalances,” Krishna Srinivasan, the fund’s Asia-Pacific department chief, said in an interview.

Bilateral meetings between top European Union and China economics officials also took place, in which the two sides set up a dialogue to discuss macroeconomic policy. The EU has grown increasingly concerned about China’s widening trade surplus and is trying to engage in talks while simultaneously bolstering its toolkit to counter a surge in imports from the Asian nation.

The IMF’s World Economic Outlook — the flagship publication of the week — warned that the world economy is nearing the limits of its resilience, as the energy squeeze persists and financial risks build. It said growth will accelerate to 3.4% in 2027. That’s unchanged from the last update in July, while the forecast for this year was raised slightly to 3.1%.

The fund urged countries with high debts to start drawing down those loads. Yet one in particular received praise, with Chief Economist Silvana Tenreyro hailing the UK for “already starting the consolidation process.”Britain is the “country that basically stands out” for plotting a path to bring down borrowing. UK Chancellor John Healey later insisted he will “stay the path” on plans to bring down borrowing over the next few years. The IMF sees the budget deficit dropping from an estimated 3.8% of GDP this year to 1.4% in 2031, the largest decline of any Group of Seven nation.

German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil rebuked Washington’s efforts to restore Russia’s position on the global stage. Trump said last week that he’s working with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to release the country’s diesel supplies into global markets, upending years of sanctions in a bid to ease fuel prices before the US midterm elections.

“That this opening is taking place is something I’ve been following with great concern,” Klingbeil said on Thursday. “Pretending that Russia is returning as a normal member of the G20 and sitting back at the table — that won’t happen with me or the other Europeans.”