Page 7 - Imf

Confident on global economic outlook despite uncertainties: IMF's Georgieva

'While uncertainties are still high, we can be a bit more confident about the economic outlook, because the global economy has been surprisingly resilient,' she said in the speech

IMF warns Maldives faces high risk of external and overall debt distress

IMF report advised Maldives to enhance financial sector oversight & crisis management, improve the business climate, strengthen governance, and enhance skill development

Pakistan elections amid political, economic turmoil tomorrow: Details here

Pakistan Elections 2024: The country is set to go for polling to elect its 16th National Assembly on February 8. This comes at a time when it is facing several issues

IMF predicts China to witness economic decline over next 4 years: Report

In a report released on Friday, the IMF projected that China's economic growth will reduce to 4.6 per cent this year, down from its 5.2 per cent growth in 2023

Sri Lanka's key inflation rises to 6.4% in January on higher sales tax

Food prices rose 3.3% in January from 0.3% in December, the Department of Census and Statistics said in a statement. Prices for non-food items rose 7.9% in January from 5.8% year-on-year in December

Threats and opportunities

Policy should prepare to deal with AI

Pakistan receives $700 million tranche from IMF ahead of elections

Ahead of the next month's elections, cash-strapped Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed that it received over USD 700 million second tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under an existing USD 3 billion bailout package. The loan was part of a USD 3 billion bailout package agreed towards June last year when Pakistan was slowly drifting towards default. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) confirmed in a statement that it has received SDR 528 million (equivalent to $705.6 million) in value 16th January 2024 from IMF following successful completion of the first review by the Executive Board of IMF under Stand By Arrangement (SBA)." It further said that the disbursement will be reflected in SBP reserves for the week ending on January 19, 2024. The handing over of around $700 million brings the total disbursements under the SBA with the IMF to $1.9 billion, while another $1.1 billion will be provided in April as the two sides are set to complete the nine month program. The ...

Rates to stay higher, battle against inflation not yet over: IMF's Gopinath

Affirming that the fight against price rise is not yet over, IMF's Gita Gopinath on Tuesday said interest rates are likely to stay higher than during the period immediately after the global financial crisis. There are expectations though that it will come down sometime this year, the International Monetary Fund's First Deputy Managing Director said. Speaking at a session during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 here, Gopinath dismissed the market bets for a cut in interest rates as premature. "The markets are expecting central banks to cut rates pretty aggressively. I think that's a bit premature to make that conclusion. "We should expect rates to come down some time this year but based on the data we see right now, we expect this to be more likely in the second half of this year," she said. She also felt that chances of a deep recession were less likely.

Artificial intelligence will affect almost 40% of global jobs, says IMF

AI's income inequality effect will largely depend on how much the technology complements high earners

40% of global employment could be disrupted by Artificial Intelligence: IMF

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva raised concerns over the potential deepening of inequality and urged governments to take proactive measures during a Sunday blog post

IMF approves $700 mn second tranche of $3 bn package for Pakistan

Ahead of the next month's elections, the IMF on Thursday approved a USD 700 million loan tranche for cash-strapped Pakistan under an existing USD 3 billion bailout package after completing its first review of the country's economic reform programme. The Ministry of Finance announced the completion of the first review by the Executive Board of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Dawn newspaper reported. A mission from the Washington-based global lender reviewed the country's economic performance during the first three months of the fiscal year from July to September, 2023. The completion of the review allows for an immediate disbursement of USD 700 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), bringing the total disbursements under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) to USD 1.9 billion, the ministry said in a statement. The initial tranche of USD 1.2 billion of the current IMF programme --amounting to USD 3 billion-- was released in July 2023. The other two tranches

Bangladesh's forex stands at $17.20 bn, short of IMF's relaxed target

Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 17.20 billion at the end of December 2023, falling short of the relaxed target of a minimum of USD 17.78 billion set by the IMF, according to media reports here on Wednesday. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a USD 4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh in January last year and fixed a minimum Forex Reserve, also called the Net International Reserve (NIR) of USD 26.81 billion by December 2023 end. However, that target was later relaxed to USD 17.78 billion, USD 19.27 billion for March and USD 20.11 billion for June, The Daily Star newspaper reported quoting the IMF document. We set a target to keep an NIR of more than USD 17 billion till December 31 and we fulfilled the goal because the NIR stood at USD 17.20 billion on Sunday (December 31), the daily quoted Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and Spokesperson Md Mezbaul Haque as saying. Our net reserve is close to the IMF target and this is not mandatory to fulfill the goal,

Pak may get $700 mn from IMF as next tranche of bailout this month: Report

Cash-strapped Pakistan is expected to get USD 700 million as the next tranche of the bailout from the IMF as the Executive Board of the global lender meets on January 11, according to a media report on Tuesday. The board of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund is set to deliberate and potentially grant final approval for the disbursement of the next USD 700 million tranche for Pakistan under the existing USD 3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), the Dawn newspaper reported. According to the IMF Executive Board calendar, upcoming meetings are scheduled for January 8, 10 and 11, with Pakistan's case slated for discussion on the last day. The current IMF programme, amounting to USD 3 billion, is expected to conclude in the second week of April, with approximately USD 1.8 billion remaining undisbursed. The initial tranche of USD 1.2 billion was released in July. In November 2023, a Staff-Level Agreement was reached between the IMF staff and Pakistani authorities regarding

Lanka needs to stick to IMF programme to overcome crisis: Central bank guv

Sri Lanka's bankrupt economy has "no alternative" but to stick to the current USD 2.9 billion IMF bailout programme, central bank governor Nandalal Weerasinghem has said. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the release of the second tranche worth USD 337 million to Sri Lanka earlier this month. Weerasinghe was responding to queries if the island nation was open to renegotiating the terms of the four-year programme on the back of claims by opposition parties that they would renegotiate conditions for the IMF's USD 2.9 billion bailout package. There is no alternative. The fact that we attempted alternatives was why we are here (bankruptcy) now, Weerasinghe told reporters on Friday. We have to go in the same path, say, if the period of debt restructuring allowed is 10 years if they (opposition) want to change it, the creditors can say, we don't support this anymore. If we were to leave the programme, we will have to pay USD 6 billion a year in repayments, Weerasinghe ...

India, China follow contrasting external lending strategies: World Bank

Escalating debt vulnerabilities in many low or middle-income countries and overlapping crises are forcing an increasing number of countries to seek debt restructuring from external creditors

FinMin clears stance on IMF's report on govt debt, says it has declined

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had warned in its report that India's general government debt could exceed 100 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the medium term

Dollar's share in global central bank reserves declines, IMF data shows

The shares of the Chinese yuan, the British pound, the Australian and Canadian dollars and the Swiss franc were little changed

Global debt challenges ahead

With higher interest rates increasing the debt-servicing burden of nations, the scope of productive expenditure will shrink further

IMF cautions India on govt debt vulnerabilities, Centre disagrees

General govt debt may exceed 100% of GDP in medium term, warns Fund

Sustainable debt management on agenda for NITI's global green push

Report on G20 deliberations says credit rating agencies should be regulated for fair assessments of emerging countries