The IMF chief warns that the global economy is facing “obstacles” this year

The IMF chief said the global economy should face “obstacles” this year with the ongoing epidemic and global tensions exacerbating the problem of global inflation.

Speaking Friday at the Economic Forum international conference held in lieu of a general meeting in Davos, Kristalina Georgieva warned that the global economic performance this year will not improve.

“[The year] 2022 is like a preventative measure, “said the fund manager.” We are waiting [global] recovery continues but it loses strength and undergoes a rehabilitation of [Covid-19] disease. . . much stronger than the expected rise in prices. . . he feels a lot of debt. ”

In view of the growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Georgieva said many of the causes of rising prices were not explained by the high cost of living and the high demand for global warming.

Commenting that the rise in prices was not a problem that central banks could address, the IMF chief added that “the pressure on prices is due to rising food prices. [caused] to some extent because of [the] weather. . . and electricity prices are rising, and this is a very serious matter that is also part of the global debate “.

Georgieva noted that the US Federal Reserve was “acting responsibly” in strengthening its monetary policy, and was aligning the need to fight inflation and prevent recurrence at a time when “falling prices in the US are turning to economic and social pressures”.

However, rising US interest rates could affect some countries, especially those with high dollar debt, which “could throw cold water on what other countries are already recovering from”.

Georgieva urged them to take immediate action. “If you have financial problems, now is the time to correct them,” he said.

Recognizing China’s economic downturn, Georgieva said this was a global scandal in 2022 and that Beijing needed to focus on liberalization measures to encourage growth and whether its zero-Covid targets would still be good due to Omicron’s rhetoric.

“What Omicron teaches all of us is that it is a widespread type of Covid and it can be very difficult to have without much economic impact and our view is that this should be taken into account,” he said.

“We will look at how China incorporates this message, in terms of the principles it uses and how it progresses to determine which vaccines are most effective and how to integrate them. [into] China cha [policies to control infections]. ”

The IMF announced its latest forecast for the global economy on Tuesday next week.