April 09, (THEWILL) – The Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva has called for strong policy action to secure a robust recovery, as global growth over the next five years is expected to languish at the slowest pace for more than three decades.
In a curtain-raising speech ahead of the Spring Meetings, Georgieva said that countries should fight inflation and safeguard financial stability, improve medium-term prospects for growth, and cooperate to reduce global disparities.
“With rising geopolitical tensions and still-high inflation, a robust recovery remains elusive,” she said. “This harms the prospects of everyone, especially for the most vulnerable people and countries.”
Georgieva called on countries to work together to prevent conflict from worsening global poverty and hunger and from wiping out the peace dividend the world has enjoyed for the past three decades.
“We also need a step change in international cooperation to reduce the impact of economic fragmentation and geopolitical tension, especially over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“This brings me back to the words of Nelson Mandela. On realizing that there are many more hills to climb, he said: “I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But…I dare not linger, for my long walk has not ended.”
“The global community may also have a long walk ahead of us. But, as the Fund’s member countries gather for our Spring Meetings next week, we should stay laser-focused on the glorious vista of a future with stronger and more inclusive growth,” she concludes
The IMF projects global growth to remain around 3 percent over the next five years—the lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
