IMF chief: Global economic growth to be less than 3%

Washington, April 6

The International Monetary Fund chief said on Thursday the world economy is expected to grow less than 3% this year, down from 3.4% last year, increasing the risk of hunger and poverty globally.

Poverty, hunger could further increase

Slower growth will be a severe blow, making it even harder for low-income nations to catch up. Poverty and hunger could further increase. — Kristalina Georgieva, Managing director, international monetary fund

Kristalina Georgieva said growth is expected to remain around 3% for the next five years, calling it “our lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990, and well below the average of 3.8% from the past two decades.” She said slower growth would be a “severe blow,” making it even harder for low-income nations to catch up.

“Poverty and hunger could further increase, a dangerous trend that was started by the Covid crisis,” she said.

Georgieva’s comments at a Politico event at the Meridian International Centre come ahead of next week’s spring meetings of the IMF and its sister lending agency, the World Bank, in Washington, where policymakers will convene to discuss the global economy’s most pressing issues.

The annual meet will take place as central banks globally continue to raise interest rates to tame persistent inflation and as an ongoing debt crisis in emerging economies pushes debt burdens higher, preventing nations from growing. — AP