Page 5 - International Monetary Fund

On the cusp of elections, Pakistan needs to get past 'lock him up' politics

The generals should also have learned by now - from Sharif's longevity, if nothing else - that you only further boost a Pakistani leader's career by trying to remove him or her from political process

Expect Pak's new govt to take deep structural problems seriously: IMF MD

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has said that she expects the new government in Pakistan to take seriously solving its "very deep structural problems" and help the cash-strapped country to reach its potential. Her remarks came days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its World Economic Outlook lowered Pakistan's economic growth forecast to two per cent for the current fiscal year, down 0.5 percentage points from its October estimate of 2.5 per cent. Pakistan, currently facing an economic crisis, is set to hold its general elections on February 8. A caretaker government currently runs the cash-strapped country. What we expect is a government that would take seriously solving the very deep structural problems of Pakistan, Georgieva told reporters during a media round table here. We see the problem we have with this caretaker government. They have done a good job of moving in the right direction. But of course, the problems of Pakistan are not solved. So more nee

Success of India grounded in pursuit of reforms over last years: IMF MD

The economic success of India is grounded in the pursuit of reforms over the last years, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday exuding confidence that it would achieve its goal of being a developed nation by 2047 by staying the course. "India has been a bright spot in the world economy, and it continues to be so. We are upgrading projections for Indian growth to 6.5 per cent in 2024. This comes on the back of fairly strong performance in 2023. The success of India is grounded in the pursuit of reforms over the last years," Georgieva told a group of reporters here. Georgieva said that one very significant advantages of India is the bold actions on the digital front with the digital public infrastructure, digital ID and making digital a strong comparative strength of India allowing small entrepreneurs to tap into markets in the way they were not able to do before. "We also see in India recognition that female participation in the ...

Reliance's Jio, Gortune pre-qualify for Sri Lanka Telecom stake bid: Report

This is a part of Sri Lanka's efforts to reduce government stake in state-owned firms under the $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme

IMF lowers Pakistan's economic growth forecast to 2% for FY2024: Report

The IMF's growth forecast is significantly lower than the Pakistan government's 3.5 per cent GDP growth target for current year

IMF raises India's GDP growth projection for FY25 by 20 bps to 6.5%

But estimate falls below FinMin's 7% projection

Interest rates likely to fall but last mile very tricky: IMF Chief

IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said interest rates should keep falling in 2024 but cautioned that there is no room for any policy error as the last mile is "very, very tricky". In an interview with the World Economic Forum here during its Annual Meeting 2024, she said that the central banks should not tighten prematurely because then they may lose the victory that is now in their hands. Expecting the positive trend to continue in 2024, she said, "The inflation rate is going down, on average." The International Monetary Fund's Managing Director, however, flagged the regional discrepancies still persisting around. "What we have now is a very diverse range. In some countries, the job is already done, and inflation is low enough for them to have an accommodative monetary policy. Brazil is one example. And in Asia, many countries did not have an inflation problem to start with," she said. "Central banks should not tighten prematurely because then they may lose the victory th

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

RBI deputy governor Michael Patra gets another 1-year extension

Patra, a career central banker since 1985, has worked in various positions in the Reserve Bank of India

India to become largest economic superpower by end of century: CEBR

India is expected to overtake both China and the US after 2080, based on demographic estimates and projections

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

Interventions in forex market to curb excessive volatility: RBI to IMF

The Reserve Bank has told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the objective of frequent interventions in the forex market is to curb excessive volatility, dismissing the Fund's rationale for reclassifying India's exchange rate regime. The IMF, following the Article IV consultation with the Indian authorities, reclassified the status of the exchange rate regime to "stabilised arrangement" from "floating" for period between December 2022 to October 2023. India's Executive Director at IMF K V Subramanian and Senior Advisors Sanjay Kumar Hansda and Anand Singh questioned the selection period adopted by the Fund for analysis and also reclassification of the country's exchange rate regime. "... (IMF) staff characterisation of India's exchange rate as a 'stabilised arrangement' is incorrect and inconsistent with reality. As in the past, exchange rate flexibility would continue to be the first line of defence in absorbing external shocks, with interventions limited to addressing ...

IMF cautions India on govt debt vulnerabilities, Centre disagrees

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

India star performer, contributing more than 16% of global growth: IMF

Growing at a robust rate due to economic reforms in key sectors like digitisation and infrastructure, India has emerged as a star performer and is projected to contribute more than 16 per cent of the global growth, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday. What we have been observing for quite some time now is that India has been growing at a very robust rate. It's one of the star performers when it comes to real growth when you look at peer countries. It's one of the fastest growing large emerging markets and it's contributing, in our current projections, more than 16 per cent of global growth this year, Nada Choueiri, the Mission of India at IMF, told PTI in an interview. The IMF on Monday released its annual Article IV consultation with India, according to which the South Asian country, underpinned by prudent macroeconomic policies, is on track to be one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world this year. Nonetheless, the economy is facing global headwinds, ...

Here's why the world's most loved-emerging market is feeling jittery

Where India has stood apart from most other emerging markets is in delivering high economic growth - 6 per cent-plus expected in 2023 and 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund

IMF's executive board approves 50% quota increase to strengthen resources

The proposal follows the guidance from the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) at the 2023 annual meetings

Pakistan informs IMF its debt serving costs may go up to PKR 8.5 trn

A substantial portion of this debt cost is attributed to domestic debt servicing, while external debt servicing exceeds PKR 900 billion

COP28 Prez calls on MDBs to work faster to address climate finance

Dr. Al Jaber told the MDBs they have already made "good progress" on reform, including an endorsement by shareholders of a new vision for the World Bank

Long way to go in terms of Indian engagement with global mkts: John Lipsky

Lipsky said that there's still a long way to go in terms of Indian engagement with global markets

Sri Lanka, IMF reach agreement for disbursal of 2nd tranche of bailout

Sri Lanka and the IMF have reached a crucial staff-level agreement to release the second tranche of about USD 330 million out of the USD 2.9 billion bailout package which will help in the cash-strapped country's economic recovery. The International Monetary Fund in March this year approved a 48-month, USD 2.9 billion extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to support Sri Lanka's economic policies and reforms. The IMF mission that visited Sri Lanka for the first review of the global lender-supported Extended Fund Facility programme for the country noted that despite early signs of stabilisation, full economic recovery is not yet assured. "Sri Lanka will have access to SDR 254 million (about US$330 million) in financing once the review is approved by IMF Management and IMF Executive Board," the IMF said in a release on Thursday. The release of the second tranche at the conclusion of the first review of the facility approved in March is subject to approval by the I