Rates to stay higher, battle against inflation not yet over: IMF's Gopinath

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.'' she said.

"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.