Category: IMF

IMF Board Seeks More Details on Claims Against Georgieva: Statement

WASHINGTON—The International Monetary Fund’s executive board adjourned without a decision about the future of Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Friday and said it would seek more information about claims that she pressured World Bank staff to alter data to benefit China in her previous role. The IMF said the board had made “significant progress,” but…


IMF Urges Governments to Make Fiscal Plans to Tame Pandemic Debt

WASHINGTON—Governments should start planning a return to more sustainable budgets with policies that win the trust of investors, after unprecedented fiscal stimulus to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. But each country must determine the appropriate timing and pace of fiscal consolidation based on its own individual circumstances, the IMF…


Emerging Market ‘Cryptoization’ Threatens Financial Stability: IMF

LONDON—The advent of digital currencies in emerging markets could spark “cryptoization” of local economies, potentially undermining exchange and capital controls and upsetting financial stability, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday. Bitcoin and its kin have in the last year soared in price and popularity, with emerging and developing market economies such as Vietnam, India,…


IMF Sees Inflation Subsiding in 2022, Supply Risks May Keep It Elevated

WASHINGTON—The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that headline consumer price inflation should peak this fall and recede to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2022, but risks remain that shortage-driven inflation spikes could prove more persistent, unanchoring expectations. The IMF’s baseline forecasts for advanced economies shows headline inflation peaking at 3.6 percent in the fall of 2021…


IMF Sees Global GDP in 2021 Slightly Below Prior Forecast of 6 Percent

WASHINGTON—The International Monetary Fund expects global economic growth in 2021 to fall slightly below its July forecast of 6 percent, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday, citing risks associated with debt, inflation, and divergent economic trends in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Georgieva said the global economy was bouncing back but the pandemic…


IMF Says Board Met With WilmerHale Lawyers on World Bank Data Probe

WASHINGTON—The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board met on Monday with officials from the WilmerHale law firm about its probe of the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2018” report, and will meet soon with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, a spokesperson said. The WilmerHale report alleged that Georgieva, as the World Bank’s CEO in 2017, applied undue…


Analysis: World Bank, IMF Face Long-Term Damage After Data Rigging Scandal

WASHINGTON—Regardless of whether International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva was to blame for changes to World Bank data in 2017 that benefited China, the scandal has dented the research reputations of both institutions, former staff, government officials and outside experts say. The damage from the data-rigging scandal that forced the World Bank to discontinue…


Australian Treasurer Signals for Home Loan Crackdown Amid Rising Household Debt

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has met with regulators over the need for plans to address the ballooning levels of household debt. Last Friday, Frydenberg spoke about the current state of the housing market with the Council of Financial Regulators, chaired by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Philip Lowe and which members include the…


World Bank Leaders, Including Now-IMF Chief, Pressured Staff to Boost China’s Ranking in Report, Investigation Finds

World Bank leaders, including then-Chief Executive Kristalina Georgieva who is now the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), applied “undue pressure” on staff to boost China’s standing in the bank’s “Doing Business 2018,” according to an investigation related on Sept. 16. The report (pdf), prepared by outside law firm WilmerHale at the request of…


As Big Firms Get Bigger, Managing the Economy Gets More Difficult

Big companies have strengthened their dominance in the economy relative to small businesses amid the pandemic and a rise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is afoot.