IMF Boss Bluntly Says 1 Trillion Dollars Have Been Injected into 100 Countries Since the Pandemic

JAKARTA – Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva said that the economy is gradually starting to recover after the big shock caused by the pandemic several years ago.

However, she believes that the current recovery is slow and uneven.

This indication can be seen from the prospect of medium-term growth being the weakest in recent decades amidst conditions of still high inflation.

Not to mention high interest rates, and increasing fragmentation.

"The risk of further divergence is real, because rich countries are more resilient to shocks and vulnerable emerging and low-income countries have to face limited buffers," she said when giving a speech at the closing of the G20 India Summit, quoted Monday, September 11.

According to Kristalina, against this background, all countries must implement sound policies to support economic and financial stability as well as growth-oriented structural reforms.

“We also need to invest further in international cooperation. "This means quickly addressing debt problems that arise, including through the G20 Joint Framework and the new Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable," she said.

Kristalina invited IMF members to strengthen the global financial safety net.

“Since the start of this pandemic, the IMF has injected $1 trillion in reserves and liquidity through loans to nearly 100 countries and historic SDR allocations. "I also thank our members who have helped us achieve our goal of delivering $100 billion to vulnerable countries," she stressed.

Kristalina added that to make the global economy stronger and more resilient in a world that is more vulnerable to shocks, it is very important to reach an agreement together.

"We want to increase the IMF's quota resources before the end of this year and secure the necessary resources for the IMF's interest-free support of the poorest countries through poverty reduction and growth confidence," she concluded.