Page 6 - Imf

IMF approves third review of Sri Lanka's $2.9 bn bailout, warns of risks

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka plunged into its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades in 2022 with a severe dollar shortage sending inflation soaring to 70 per cent, its currency to record lows

IMF flags Pak's tax shortfall among major concerns in $7 bn loan package

The IMF has flagged Pakistan's tax shortfall and a delay in materialising foreign loans, among other issues, as challenges in implementing the USD 7 billion loan package. At the end of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, which for five days held in-depth meetings with Pakistan officials about the implementation of conditions linked with the loan, the global lender also expressed concerns about Punjab's new agriculture income tax law which is still not fully aligned with the federal legislation and deviated from the National Fiscal Pact, The Express Tribune reported. A source said the IMF mission flagged two major concerns on Friday: the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) 's underperformance and a delay in finalising the loans to fill the USD 2.5 billion gap. The global lender again asked Pakistan to contact Riyadh to secure oil on deferred payments and request Beijing to reschedule debt. In addition, the IMF had concerns about the delay in the privatisation of the power ...

Pak's delay in materialising loans concern in implementation of loan: IMF

The IMF has flagged Pakistan's tax shortfall and a delay in materialising foreign loans, among other issues, as challenges in implementing the USD 7 billion loan package. At the end of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, which for five days held in-depth meetings with Pakistan officials about the implementation of conditions linked with the loan, the global lender also expressed concerns about Punjab's new agriculture income tax law which is still not fully aligned with the federal legislation and deviated from the National Fiscal Pact, The Express Tribune reported. A source said the IMF mission flagged two major concerns on Friday: the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) 's underperformance and a delay in finalising the loans to fill the USD 2.5 billion gap. The global lender again asked Pakistan to contact Riyadh to secure oil on deferred payments and request Beijing to reschedule debt. In addition, the IMF had concerns about the delay in the privatisation of the power ...

Cross-border challenges widen wealth gap between Europe, US: IMF study

If trade barriers between EU countries were lowered to the level that existed between US states, it would boost European productivity by seven percentage points

Pak faces IMF scrutiny as bailout programme review may shift to quarterly

A quarterly review would allow for continuous oversight of the approximately 40 conditions outlined in the $7 billion agreement

IMF holds key talks with Pakistan on $7bn bailout amid fiscal concerns

Sources in the finance ministry said the Nov 11-15 visit will discuss recent developments and program performance to date, adding the mission was not part of the first review

IMF to assess Pak's external financing needs during review discussions

The IMF's unscheduled performance review discussions in Pakistan next week will primarily focus on the materialisation of new foreign loans to the country to fill nearly USD 2.5 billion in external financing gap for this fiscal year, according to a media report. The International Monetary Fund will assess Pakistan's external financing needs during these discussions, as some planned loans have not yet been secured, according to government sources. According to The Express Tribune newspaper, led by Nathan Porter, the IMF Mission Chief, the talks will formally begin on Tuesday, with an opening session also planned with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. The mission's arrival in Pakistan is unscheduled, as the first formal review for the release of the second USD 1.1 billion tranche is slated for March 2025. Pakistan faces delays in obtaining loans from bilateral creditors, complicating efforts to bridge its external financing gap. The Washington-based global lender previously estima

Investment, private consumption driving India's growth: IMF report

The IMF kept its GDP growth forecasts for India unchanged at 7 per cent for FY25 and 6.5 per cent for FY26 in its World Economic Outlook

IMF's $7 billion bailout at risk as Pakistan's economy continues to weaken

The fundamental assumptions used to finalise the USD 7 billion deal with the IMF have gone awry within a month of its approval, leaving the authorities concerned with an option either to renegotiate the package or keep suffocating the economy through more taxes, according to a media report on Thursday. Official statistics show that out of four key underlying assumptions for achieving the nearly Rs 13 trillion tax target - the economic growth rate, inflation, large-scale manufacturing and imports three assumptions have already been proven wrong by the end of the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The federal government has also overly committed on behalf of the four provincial governments that, too, are struggling to meet their conditions soon after the deal became effective. The Express Tribune newspaper reported that the official statistics for the first quarter (July-September) revealed that from the Federal Board of Revenue's tax collection target to provincial cash ...

Economic leaders face era of industrial policy threatening growth prospects

Policymakers brace for more protectionism and demise of 'neoliberalism' if Trump is re-elected in the US

Need fair sovereign ratings for capital access: Sitharaman at IMF meeting

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged greater engagement with credit rating agencies to improve rating methodologies

FM Nirmala Sitharaman calls for deeper dialogue on global sovereign debt

At roundtable in Washington DC, she cautions against contingency financing instruments

IMF chief warns of global risk of slow growth, urges China to push reforms

The world economy, buffeted by conflict and growing geopolitical rivalries, is in danger of getting stuck in a slow-growth, high-debt rut, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Thursday. She also urged Chinese leaders to take more decisive action to jump-start their country's sluggish economy or risk seeing economic growth plummet. These are anxious times,' the fund's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, told reporters during the fall meetings of the IMF and its sister agency, the World Bank. The IMF forecasts that the global economy will expand this year at what Georgieva called an anemic' 3.2 per cent. Global trade is lackluster at a time of conflict and growing geopolitical tension including frosty relations the world's two largest economies, the United States and China. Trade is no more a powerful engine of growth,' she said. "We live in a more fragmented global economy.' At the same time, many countries are struggling with debts they took on to combat the

Rachel Reeves aims for economic reset in UK's Budget ahead of IMF meetings

Britain's finance ministry said Reeves would support proposals in Washington to expand development financing for poorer countries to meet the United Nations' sustainable development goals and encourag

Global fight against high inflation is 'almost won': IMF chief economist

The global war against inflation has largely been won and at surprisingly little cost to economic growth, the International Monetary Fund declared Tuesday. In its latest assessment of the global economy, the IMF predicted that worldwide inflation will cool from 6.7% last year to 5.8% this year and to 4.3% in 2025. It estimates that inflation will fall even faster in the world's wealthy countries, from 4.6% last year to 2.6% this year and 2% the target range for most major central banks in 2025. The slowdown in inflation, after years of crushing price increases in the aftermath of the pandemic, led the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to cut interest rates this year after they had aggressively raised them to try to tame inflation. The battle against inflation is almost won,? Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF's chief economist, told reporters Tuesday. In most countries, inflation is hovering close to central bank targets.? Inflation had accelerated when the world ...

IMF retains India's GDP growth forecast at 7% for FY25, 6.5% for FY26

For India, the October outlook projects a headline inflation figure of 4.4 per cent for FY25 and 4.1 per cent for FY26

IMF predicts India's GDP growth to moderate to 7% in 2024, 6.5% in 2025

India's GDP growth is likely to moderate from 8.2 per cent in 2023 to 7 per cent in 2024 and 6.5 per cent in 2025 because the pent-up demand accumulated during Covid has exhausted, as the economy reconnects with its potential, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday. About the global economy, the IMF said the battle against inflation has largely been won, even though price pressures persist in some countries. After peaking at 9.4 per cent year over year in the third quarter of 2022, headline inflation rates are now projected to reach 3.5 per cent by the end of 2025, below the average level of 3.6 per cent between 2000 and 2019, it said. The annual World Economic Outlook released here projected global economic growth to stay steady at 3.2 per cent in 2024 and 2025, even though a few countries, especially low-income developing countries, have seen sizable downside growth revisions. "In India, the outlook is for GDP growth to moderate from 8.2 per cent in 2023 to 7 per c

IMF upgrades US economic outlook, lowers expectations from Europe, China

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday upgraded its economic outlook for the United States this year, while lowering its expectations for growth in Europe and China. It left its forecast for global growth unchanged at a relatively lackluster 3.2% for 2024. The IMF expects the US economy the world's largest to expand 2.8% this year, down slightly from 2.9% in 2023 but an improvement on the 2.6% it had forecast for 2024 back in July. Growth in the United States has been led by strong consumer spending, fuelled by healthy gains in inflation-adjusted wages. Next year, though, the IMF expects the US economy to decelerate to 2.2% growth. With a new presidential administration and Congress in place, the IMF envisions the nation's job market losing some momentum in 2025 as the government begins seeking to curb huge budget deficits by slowing spending, raising taxes or some combination of both. The IMF, a 190-nation lending organisation, works to promote economic growth and financial .

Isolationism has hurt America and world: Yellen to global finance leaders

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is telling world financial leaders that the US economy has grown stronger because the Biden administration rejected isolationism, offering a barely veiled criticism of former President Donald Trump's policies two weeks before the US election. Yellen was opening the IMF and World Bank annual meetings on Tuesday by highlighting US economic growth since the nation was in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without mentioning Trump by name, she said in an advance draft of her remarks that the Biden administration had ended a period of international isolationism that made America and the world worse off. We went from millions having lost their jobs to a historic labour market recovery, Yellen says. She said US economic growth has been almost twice as fast as most other advanced economies this year and last, even as inflation came down sooner. The IMF released its international outlook on the global economy on Tuesday morning and upgraded its economic outlo

Soft landing: From pandemic to war, the global economy faces several risks

For India, while growth remains stable and the disinflation process is underway, it also needs to build fiscal buffers