The IMF traditionally calls on its member nations, especially those receiving its financial support like Greece and Portugal, to rein in spending to reduce their budget deficits and public debt, AFP reported. But the persistence of unusually low interest rates in the major economies has pushed the global lender into questioning—at least on the margins—its doctrine, according to an analytical chapter of its World Economic Outlook report released ahead of next week’s IMF/World Bank spring annual meetings. Market rates paid by nations to finance themselves “have declined substantially” since the 1980s and now are even in “slightly negative territory” when taking into account inflation, the 188-nation IMF said.