Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said that after facing repeated crises in recent years, the world must build foundations capable of withstanding shocks that have become more frequent, according to Bloomberg.
“I am concerned that we are not yet aware that this is what the world will be like. We will not reach a point where shocks will disappear,” Georgieva said on the Leaders with Francine Lacqua podcast.
Georgieva, who has led the IMF since 2019, has weathered the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, trade tensions, and now the conflict in the Middle East. The IMF has a lending capacity of just under $1 trillion, and the task of the managing director, as Georgieva described it, is to keep the fund’s 191 members focused on working together for the common good of the global economy. “The best ammunition we have is objective analysis,” Georgieva said.
A major transformation currently underway globally is the spread of artificial intelligence and its impact on labor markets and local economies. Georgieva said that organizations, including the one she leads, have failed to identify the inequalities arising from globalization and wants to ensure that this does not happen with AI.
“All of us, including the IMF, failed to identify the backlash against globalization that stemmed from the fact that, yes, the global economy is doing better overall, but many communities were affected because their jobs disappeared and they were not given enough attention. I’m telling you that what I really don’t want to see happen again is the same thing with artificial intelligence,” the IMF chief emphasized.
The Fund will update its outlook on the global economy in July, after revising its growth forecasts in April amid the war in the Middle East. The Washington-based financial institution also publishes annual economic reviews of member countries, among other reports as part of its surveillance mandate.
In 2024, two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the IMF announced that it would resume its annual review of the Russian economy, as part of the so-called Article IV consultations, for the first time since the start of the war. However, this plan was met with negative reactions from several European Union countries, which criticized Georgieva for this decision. Those countries said that discussions with Russia on economic issues would legitimize the Kremlin’s efforts to evade sanctions.
“It was a very difficult moment, as the shelling was taking place in both directions. We decided to postpone it. We need to collect data on trade, imports, and exports. Russia has been very reluctant to provide this data,” Georgieva said. She added that “at some point, we will resume the regular assessment,” without providing details on the timeline.
Source: AGERPRES
