IMF Georgieva: Global economy is doing reasonably well, high commodity prices will continue for a while

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, revealed on the sidelines of the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that high commodity prices will continue for a while, which will increase the negative economic impact also caused by slowing growth and high sovereign debt.

Georgieva added that the global economy is doing reasonably well, but she warned that economic concerns remain in light of trade growth slightly slower than global growth.

The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for global growth next year and warned of accelerating risks from wars and trade protectionism, even as it praised central banks for taming inflation without pushing countries into recession.

The International Monetary Fund said in an update to its World Economic Outlook issued on Tuesday that global output will expand by 3.2%, about 0.1 percentage points slower than July estimates. It left the forecast for this year unchanged at 3.2%. Inflation will slow to 4.3% next year from 5.8% in 2024.

The fund said the global economy is “affected by geopolitical tensions and a slowdown in the economies of some major countries, which justifies reducing the growth rate for next year,” which was 3.3% in the last report issued last July.

In 2024, the fund kept its global economic growth forecast unchanged at 3.2%, compared to last July’s version, while it had actually recorded growth of 3.3% in 2023.

The International Monetary Fund also maintained its growth forecasts for the economies of the Middle East and Central Asia for the current and next years at 2.4% and 3.9%, respectively, despite regional tensions and the Israeli war on Gaza entering its second year.