The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, has said families are hurting from high prices.
She spoke at the on-going annual meetings of the IMF/World Bank in Washington DC, yesterday.
She said that the global economy was faced with being stuck on the path of slow growth and high debt.
Part of her statement read, “The global economy has held up well. Inflation has continued to decline. Thanks to the concerted efforts of Central Banks and thanks to the ease of chain supply performance.
“But people are not feeling good about the economic prospects of their economies. Everybody I asked, ‘How is your economy, the answer is ‘Good’. How is the mood of your people? The answer is ‘Not so good.’
“Families are still hurting from high prices and global growth is anaemic. We expect the global economy to grow by 3.2 percent this year and slow to 3.1 percent annual growth in five years. Trade is not more a powerful engine of growth. We live in a more fragile world.
“The bottom line is: Global economy is getting stuck in danger of lower growth and high debt path- lower incomes and fewer jobs, lower government incomes and lower resources to support families and lower income to support funding of climate change.”
According to the Global Policy Agenda 2024 report which was released yesterday, “The global economy has proven resilient, and a soft landing is within reach. Inflation has moderated thanks to tight monetary policy and fading supply shocks, and growth is expected to remain steady.
“But uncertainty remains significant, with risks tilted to the downside; medium-term growth prospects are lackluster; public debt has reached record highs and is expected to approach 100 percent of GDP by 2030; and geo-economic fragmentation threatens to undo decades of gains from cross-border economic integration.
