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Krishnamurthy Subramanian's termination was India's call, says IMF

Sources said the reasons for Subramanian's termination included alleged impropriety in using his position to promote and publicise his latest book India@100

Parameswaran Iyer to represent India at IMF vote on fresh tranche to Pak

Subramanian's sudden exit from the IMF has raised questions in policy circles

Tariffs, oil prices, other uncertainties weighing on Mideast economies: IMF

Countries across the Middle East and North Africa face significant challenges to economic growth as the region faces economic uncertainty due to tariff measures, lower-than-recent oil prices and cuts to financial aid, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. The IMF's regional outlook report for the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) said Brent crude oil prices which are down from highs above USD 120 a barrel in 2022 are likely to be USD 65 to USD 69 per barrel in 2025 and 2026, making energy-exporting economies vulnerable to market fluctuations. Tariff plans by the US and other countries and geopolitical tensions also have created mounting economic uncertainty globally that is weighing down on the region's economies, which could negatively impact their growth by anywhere from 2 per cent to 4.5 per cent, said Jihad Azour, director for Middle East and Central Asia at the IMF. Therefore countries need to react and need to devise policies in order to protect their ...

Congress urges govt to oppose IMF's $1.3 billion loan consideration to Pak

This statement from Congress comes just days after the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam region, which the party blamed on Pakistan

Jerome Powell draws applause on independence at closed-door IMF meeting

Powell delivered an impassioned defense of central bank independence when he addressed policymakers and finance ministers during a meeting on Friday

IMF-World Bank meetings end with little tariff clarity, economic foreboding

Many participants in the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings had a sense that Trump's administration was still conflicted in its demands from trading partners hit with his sweeping tariffs

Private investment in India is still a worry: IMF's Krishna Srinivasan

The IMF on Tuesday pared down its FY26 growth forecast for India by 30 basis points to 6.2 per cent, citing escalating trade tensions and global uncertainty in its latest World Economic Outlook

IMF chief urges swift action to ease trade tensions that risk growth

The head of the International Monetary Fund urged countries to move swiftly' to resolve trade disputes that threaten global economic growth. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said the unpredictability arising from President Donald Trump's aggressive campaign of taxes on foreign imports is causing companies to delay investments and consumers to hold off on spending. Uncertainty is bad for business,' she told reporters on Thursday in a briefing during the spring meetings of the IMF and its sister agency, the World Bank. Georgieva's comments came two days after the IMF downgraded the outlook for world economic growth this year. The 191-country lending organisation, which seeks to promote global growth, financial stability and to reduce poverty, also sharply lowered its forecast for the United States. It said the chances that the world's biggest economy would fall into recession have risen from 25 per cent, to about 40 per cent. Georgieva warned that the economic fallout from

Bessent says IMF, World Bank need reform, sees chance for China deal

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leveled harsh criticism at the operations of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday even as he tried to reassure nervous investors that the United States would maintain its global leadership role. America first does not mean America alone, he said in a speech to the Institute of International Finance, where he also promised support for the multilateral banks' core missions. "To the contrary, it is a call for deeper collaboration and mutual respect among trade partners. Although Bessent said the IMF and the World Bank are falling short, he did not call for the US to withdraw from the institutions, as some conservatives had advocated in a Project 2025 proposal created by the Heritage Foundation. He said the institutions serve critical roles in the international system. And the Trump administration is eager to work with them so long as they can stay true to their missions. It was the latest example of how Bessent, a former hed

India amid global strain: Rate cut relief versus trade war challenges

The silver lining amid these growth concerns is the moderation in domestic inflation

IMF cuts India's FY26 growth forecast to 6.2% amid trade tensions

The WEO stressed that swift escalation of trade tensions has generated extremely high levels of policy ambiguity, making it more difficult than usual to establish a central global growth outlook

IMF economist backs central bank independence after Trump's remarks

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said central banks faced a delicate moment in managing inflation, especially in countries like the United States

Growth uncertainties: IMF's assessment reflects the global chaos

It is worth noting that the IMF's latest projections have come when there is a high level of uncertainty

FM Sitharaman to attend G20, IMF-World Bank meets during US, Peru visit

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will participate in G20 meetings and attend Spring Meetings of the IMF-World Bank, among other bilateral engagements, during an 11-day official trip to the US and Peru, the finance ministry said on Saturday. Sitharaman is leaving for the official trip on Saturday night. The finance minister will also interact with top CEOs from prominent fund management firms during a Roundtable meeting with investors, besides holding bilateral meetings with CEOs from top information technology (IT) firms based in San Francisco. As part of the US visit, she would land in San Francisco to deliver a keynote address at the Hoover Institution at the Stanford University on April 20. Sitharaman will also participate in an event featuring Indian diaspora in San Francisco and interact with the Indian community settled there, the finance ministry said in a statement. During her visit to Washington, USA, from April 22-25, Sitharaman will participate in the Spring Meetings

Trump tariffs' external shock creates uncertainty for Sri Lanka, says IMF

The external shock in the form of tariffs imposed on a range of countries by the Trump administration has created uncertainity for Sri Lanka in its path to recovery from economic crisis, the IMF said here on Friday. The recent external shock and evolving developments are creating uncertainty for the Sri Lankan economy, which is still recovering from crisis," the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said at the end of a staff visit. The IMF team was here from April 3 until Friday to discuss Sri Lanka's performance and policies for the four-year USD 2.9 billion facility extended in 2023. The post crisis growth rebound of 5 per cent in 2024 is impressive, inflation declined considerably in recent quarters and has fallen to -2.6 per cent at end of March 2025," the global lender said, adding that substantial fiscal reforms strengthened public finances. On Trump tariff, the IMF said more time was needed to assess the impact of the global shock and how its implications could be addressed wit

IMF asks Indian banks to adopt global norms for credit risk management

UN financial agency report released by RBI calls for enhanced supervision of individual loans

No talks on new Senegal programme until misreporting addressed: IMF

In an interview with Reuters in Dakar on Monday, IMF mission chief Edward Gemayel said "everything is possible" but did not commit to that timeline

Pakistan, IMF agree to cut average applied tariffs by 43% over five years

Pakistan and the IMF have made further adjustments to the economic liberalisation plan and agreed to cut weighted average applied tariffs to around 6 per cent a reduction of 43 per cent over five years in the protection level available to local industries, according to a media report. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had long been raising concerns over the protection available to local industries, but Pakistani authorities were reluctant to open these areas. The country has the third-highest trade-weighted average tariffs in South Asia at 10.6 per cent. After the implementation of the full liberalisation plan, it will have the lowest weighted average tariffs in the region. A weighted average applied tariff is the average of effectively applied tariff rates, weighted by the value of imported goods to which they are applied. The final adjustments were made during a virtual meeting held on Thursday, The Express Tribune newspaper reported quoting government sources. It has been

IMF proposes tax target of over Rs 15 trillion in Pakistan's next Budget

The International Monetary Fund has (IMF) proposed a tax target of over Rs 15 trillion for Pakistan in the next budget, according to a media report on Saturday. The development comes days after the IMF urged Pakistan's Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to refrain from granting tax exemptions to international investment projects, including the Chaghi-Gwadar railway track project worth USD 2 billion. ARY News reported citing sources that the IMF delegation maintained that tax exemptions for international investments would hinder the country's revenue generation. The IMF and Pakistan are holding virtual talks, with 85 per cent of the discussions completed successfully. The talks are focused on finalising the details of the next budget, which is expected to be presented in the National Assembly soon. The new budget is expected to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio to 13 per cent and collect Rs 2,745 billion in non-tax revenue. The government is also expecting the economy to gro

Pakistan shows commitment to selling PIA by July as part of IMF agreement

Pakistan has assured the IMF of selling the Pakistan International Airlines by July after a botched attempt to sell the national flag carrier last year, according to a media report on Tuesday. The PIA has been running into losses and as part of reforms urged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government was putting on the block its stake, ranging from 51 to 100 per cent. However, no serious buyer made the bid when the effort was made in October last year. The only offer of Pakistani Rs 10 billion by a local real estate developing company was rejected by the government. An IMF team is in Pakistan to review the $7 billion loan program approved last year. Pakistan would get the second tranche of about $1 billion if it convinced the IMF team. One of the concerns of the lender was the loss-making entities and a commitment by the Pakistan government to sell such organisations, but no headway has been made, apparently due to the dire economic situation, which has kept away the