IMF: Inflation is on a downward trend everywhere
International Monetary Fund (IMF) President Kristalina Georgieva stated that the world economy has proven to be extremely resilient and inflation is in a downward trend almost everywhere.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) President Kristalina Georgieva made evaluations about the global economy at the event organized by the Swiss Institute of International Studies affiliated with the University of Zurich.
Stating that the world economy has become more prone to shocks since 2020, Georgieva said, “What is remarkable is that despite all these shocks, the world economy has proven to be extremely resilient. We are not in a global recession.”
Georgieva stated that last year there were fears that most economies would go into recession, but this did not happen.
“The most dramatic thing is that the world is in wars.”
Noting that they foresee a growth of 3.2 percent for this year and the next, Georgieva said, “Inflation, which hit us very strongly, is in decline almost everywhere.”
When asked about geopolitical concerns, Georgieva said, “The most dramatic thing we see is that the world is in wars.”
Pointing to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and Israel’s occupation of Gaza, Georgieva said that it is difficult to have a rational conversation about economic priorities when there is a war.
A “tsunami hitting the labor market” analogy for artificial intelligence
Georgieva also pointed out that we are faced with transformational forces and stated that artificial intelligence, in particular, could affect 60 percent of jobs in developed economies and 40 percent of jobs worldwide in the next few years. “This is like a tsunami hitting the labor market,” Georgieva evaluated.
Noting that there is little time to prepare people and businesses for this, Georgieva explained that if managed well, it can cause a “tremendous” increase in productivity, but it can also lead to more misinformation and inequality.
On the other hand, Georgieva’s speech was interrupted several times by protesters who called for action on climate change and tackling the debts of developing economies.
Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan, who attended the same event, stated that the fight against inflation in Switzerland is now very advanced. Jordan stated that the inflation outlook is much better, but there is a lot of uncertainty.