- IMF MD has warned that a sharp slowdown will continue in 2023, with India and China remaining to be the only bright spots.
- Lower-income countries would be hit the hardest, as they will find it difficult to grow amidst a global slowdown.
- The West, including the EU, is facing fresh headwinds in the wake of the banking collapse, India’s economic growth has so far been resilient, she said.
- According to Georgieva, a sharp slowdown in the world economy last year due to the raging pandemic and Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine would continue this year.
- Global growth in 2022 dropped by almost half, from 6.1 to 3.4 per cent,” Georgieva added.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva has warned that a sharp slowdown will continue in 2023, with India and China remaining to be the only bright spots. She said that while the world will grow at less than 3 per cent, half of it will be accounted for by the two Asian giants.
“Some momentum comes from emerging economies .India and China are expected to account for half of the global growth in 2023. But others face a steeper climb,” she added. She said that lower-income countries would be hit the hardest, as they will find it difficult to grow amidst a global slowdown. “Poverty and hunger could further increase, a dangerous trend that was started by the Covid crisis,” she said.
Georgieva’s remarks come ahead of the next week’s meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, where policy-makers will convene to discuss the global economy’s most pressing issues. While the West, including the EU, is facing fresh headwinds in the wake of the banking collapse, India’s economic growth has so far been resilient.
About 90 per cent of advanced economies are projected to see a decline in their growth rates this year, she said. The IMF chief’s projections are closely aligned with the Reserve Bank of India’s estimates, which has pegged India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 7 per cent for 2023.
According to Georgieva, a sharp slowdown in the world economy last year due to the raging pandemic and Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine would continue this year. But low-income nations are hamstrung by weakening demand for their exports, with their per-capita income growth remaining below that of the emerging economies. Poverty and hunger that increased during the coronavirus pandemic could climb.
“After a strong recovery in 2021 came the severe shock of Russia’s war in Ukraine and its wide-ranging consequences — global growth in 2022 dropped by almost half, from 6.1 to 3.4 per cent,” Georgieva added.
