Global economy did better than projected in 2023 – IMF

Growth resilience has been remarkable, according to Kristalina Georgieva

Global economic growth will get a boost this year from a stronger-than-anticipated 2023, Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said on Tuesday as cited by Bloomberg.

The projection follows the IMF’s less optimistic October outlook, when it said that global growth will continue to slow to 3.0% in 2023 and 2.9% in 2024, well below the historical (2000–2019) average of 3.8%. Among the factors holding back the recovery, the IMF then named the long-term consequences of the pandemic, the Ukraine conflict, and increasing geo-economic fragmentation, as well as the effects of monetary policy tightening and extreme weather events.

“The world economy has proven to be remarkably resilient,” Georgieva was quoted as saying at the Bloomberg House event in Davos on Tuesday. “2023 comes better than we expected by a small margin,” she said, noting “There is some wind coming from 2023 into 2024.”

The IMF chief also pointed out that the US was “poised for a soft landing” as interest rates start to decline. The world’s second-largest economy, China, faces below 4% growth unless it implements structural reforms, Georgieva stated.

READ MORE: Global GDP growth to be lowest for decades – World Bank

The IMF will present its updated world economic outlook on January 30. Meanwhile, last week the World Bank predicted that global GDP growth in 2024 would slow for the third year in a row to 2.4%, which will leave poverty reduction goals at risk.

Find more stories on economy and finance in TROIB business