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International Monetary Fund (IMF) First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath on Monday commended Sri Lanka's significant progress in economic reforms and emphasised the importance of maintaining momentum to ensure lasting stability and prosperity in the island nation. Gopinath is on a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka from June 15. During her meeting with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat, Gopinath acknowledged the strong mandate received by the ruling National People's Power (NPP) in both parliamentary and local council elections, according to a press release issued by the president's office. She noted that these mandates "enhance the government's ability to implement much-needed reforms, it said. Dissanayake's party won record record-breaking two-thirds parliamentary majority in November last year. In the local council election held in early May, it gained a majority of the 338 seats. Gopinath commended the remarkable progress achieved over t
India will need to undertake more reforms to be able to continue on the path of raising economic growth and to make sure that enough job creation happens in the country, IMF deputy managing director Gita Gopinath said on Saturday. Addressing an event here, Gopinath further said that India will be required to reduce import tariffs if it wants to be an important player in the global supply chains. "The significant improvements have been made by the government over the years in terms structural reforms." While noting that the world is in an environment where trade integration has been questioned, Gopinath said it is important for India to remain open for global trade. "Tariff rates in India are higher than in its other peer economies. If it wants to be an important player on the world stage and an important part of global supply chains, it is going to require reducing those tariffs," the eminent economist said. Gopinath said it is a tremendous aspiration to get to a developed country
IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said interest rates should keep falling in 2024 but cautioned that there is no room for any policy error as the last mile is "very, very tricky". In an interview with the World Economic Forum here during its Annual Meeting 2024, she said that the central banks should not tighten prematurely because then they may lose the victory that is now in their hands. Expecting the positive trend to continue in 2024, she said, "The inflation rate is going down, on average." The International Monetary Fund's Managing Director, however, flagged the regional discrepancies still persisting around. "What we have now is a very diverse range. In some countries, the job is already done, and inflation is low enough for them to have an accommodative monetary policy. Brazil is one example. And in Asia, many countries did not have an inflation problem to start with," she said. "Central banks should not tighten prematurely because then they may lose the victory th
Affirming that the fight against price rise is not yet over, IMF's Gita Gopinath on Tuesday said interest rates are likely to stay higher than during the period immediately after the global financial crisis. There are expectations though that it will come down sometime this year, the International Monetary Fund's First Deputy Managing Director said. Speaking at a session during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 here, Gopinath dismissed the market bets for a cut in interest rates as premature. "The markets are expecting central banks to cut rates pretty aggressively. I think that's a bit premature to make that conclusion. "We should expect rates to come down some time this year but based on the data we see right now, we expect this to be more likely in the second half of this year," she said. She also felt that chances of a deep recession were less likely.
India's message of 'one earth, one family, one future' resonated strongly with all delegates at the G20 Summit, Gita Gopinath, the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund said. "Congratulations Prime Minister Narendra Modi on presiding over such a successful G20," Gopinath posted on X late Saturday night. She said India's message of 'one earth, one family, one future' resonated strongly with all delegates. Modi thanked Gopinath "for the kind words". "It is an honor to host the G20 summit. Our efforts are a testament to the collective spirit of unity and progress," the prime minister said.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday had a meeting with Gita Gopinath, the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), during which they discussed debt vulnerabilities and other issues. Sitharaman is leading a high-powered Indian delegation to attend the annual Spring Meeting of the IMF and the World Bank. Sitharaman congratulated Gopinath for accelerating India's work on the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable along with the World Bank and reiterated India's commitment to foster efforts to address growing debt vulnerabilities, the finance ministry said in a tweet after the meeting. During the meeting, the finance minister noted IMF's concerns on key downside risks to the economy including financial sector stress, rising real interest rates, elevated debt, inflation, geo-political fragmentation, and faltering growth in China, as highlighted in World Economic Outlook World Economy Outlook. Gopinath congratulated the minister on the fruitful