2023-10-25 23:19:00
We should all be aware that interest rates will remain high for a long time, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech at an investment conference in Riyadh, Bulgarian publication 24Chasa reports. bg, quoted by Rador Radio Romania.
Kristalina GeorgievaPhoto: Olivier DOULIERY / AFP / Profimedia
“We are not happy that it was necessary to quickly raise them from zero to five and more percent, but the situation is such that we have to tighten the belt,” emphasized Kristalina Georgieva.
According to the head of the IMF, for the past 20 years, the world has lived with interest rates from a “fantasy world”.
“We would like to see a normalization of monetary policy, but that will happen gradually. “What does not give me peace is the fact that we live in a world where crises are becoming more frequent and more destructive,” Georgieva noted. “What is happening now (in Israel and Gaza – no) will not be the last shock.”
“We are concerned regarding what is happening, the loss of human life, but also the loss of economic activity,” the head of the IMF said. What’s worse is that this is happening at a time of slowing economic activity, high interest rates and expensive government debt servicing. And countries close to the conflict, such as Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, are already feeling the effects. Tourists there are dwindling as insecurity is a tourism killer.
“That’s why we at the Fund do not hesitate and act quickly when it comes to help, debt restructuring,” said Kristalina Georgieva. The good news is that monetary policy tightening is working and inflation is falling. The bad news is that this is not happening as quickly as we would like. However, the interest rates are not suffocating for now, they only make life difficult, concludes the general manager of the IMF.
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