Kuwait city: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva stated that the global economy has demonstrated greater resilience than anticipated, despite facing various shocks. Georgieva delivered this assessment during a speech at the Milken Institute in Washington, in preparation for the IMF's annual meeting scheduled for October 13-18.
According to Kuwait News Agency, Georgieva emphasized the importance of this resilience as global finance ministers and central bank governors prepare to discuss the economic impacts of transformative forces and policy turbulence at the upcoming meetings. She noted that contrary to earlier predictions by some experts of an imminent US recession with negative global repercussions, the US economy, along with other advanced, emerging, and developing markets, has remained relatively stable.
Georgieva attributed the resilience of the world economy to improved policy fundamentals, private sector adaptability, less severe tariff outcomes than initially feared, and supportive financial conditions. She indicated that the IMF's forthcoming World Economic Outlook would highlight a slight deceleration in global growth for this year and the next, with a forecast of approximately three percent growth over the medium term, down from 3.7 percent before the pandemic.
The IMF chief also pointed out changing global growth patterns, with China's growth slowing while India emerges as a significant growth engine. Georgieva highlighted the fiscal challenges ahead, warning that global public debt is projected to surpass 100 percent of GDP by 2029, driven by advanced and emerging market economies. She stressed that rising debt levels could increase interest payments, elevate borrowing costs, limit other spending, and diminish governments' capacity to absorb economic shocks.