“We see inflation finally trimming down in quite a number of countries,” Georgieva said. — Reuters
NEW YORK: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees growing evidence that a global inflation spike that’s triggered a cost-of-living crisis in many countries is subsiding, managing director Kristalina Georgieva says.
“We see inflation finally trimming down in quite a number of countries,” Georgieva told a conference in Dubai.
“The chance of finally getting on top of the problem of cost of living being a major disrupter for millions and millions of people, we see light at the end of this tunnel.”
Many nations are reeling from inflation, high interest rates and elevated food and energy costs, all while dealing with climate change and either slower growth or recession.
Surging prices have forced central banks worldwide to tighten monetary policy.
Last month, the fund estimated world consumer-price increases would slow to 6.6% this year, 0.1 percentage point higher than the October projection, following 8.8% in 2022.
It forecast further slowing to 4.3% in 2024. Inflation rates are expected to be lower in about 84% of countries in 2023 than in 2022.
In the same report, the IMF raised its global economic growth outlook for the first time in a year, with resilient US spending and China’s reopening buttressing demand against a litany of risks.
World gross domestic product will likely grow an estimated 2.9% in 2023, 0.2 percentage point more than forecast in October.
While that’s a slowdown from a 3.4% expansion in 2022, the IMF said it expects growth will bottom out this year before accelerating to 3.1% next year.
Georgieva reiterated the outlook, saying that while global growth is bottoming out, some of the fund’s major concerns persist, including unexpected events like the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the earthquake that hit parts of Turkey and Syria.
“The world economy is still in a very difficult place,” the IMF chief said.
“Global growth is slowing down in 2023 but it might be a turning point,” she said. — Bloomberg
