The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged countries on Wednesday to rein in fiscal spending and rebuild their buffers, but said that could prove difficult in the world’s biggest-ever election year.

A record 88 countries, home to more than half of the world’s population, have held or are holding national elections in 2024, the IMF said, noting that governments tend to spend more and tax less during election years.

“The most acute risk to public finances arises from the record number of elections being held in 2024, which has led to it being dubbed the Great Election Year,” the IMF said in its new Fiscal Monitor publication.

The United States will hold its presidential election in November, while voters in India will begin voting later this month. Taiwan, Portugal, Russia and Turkey have already held elections.

The IMF said budget overruns were often likely in election years, a risk amplified by increased demand for social spending. It said that deficits in election years tended to exceed forecasts by 0.4 percentage points of GDP, compared to non-election years.