Page 12 - International Monetary Fund

Any major assistance to Lebanon depends on the IMF deal: European Union

A European Union official visiting Lebanon said on Friday that the international body will increase its humanitarian assistance to the crisis-struck country, but that more significant long-term aid depends on reforms and a deal with the International Monetary Fund. EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said at a press conference following his two-day visit that the EU will provide 60 million euros (more than USD 65 million) in humanitarian assistance to Lebanon in 2023, a 20 per cent increase from last year. But he warned that such aid is "not a sustainable long-term solution to the massive financial crisis that has left three-quarters of Lebanon's population of 6 million in poverty. To get out of the crisis, he said, Lebanon needs to elect a president -- which would resolve a presidential vacuum that has dragged on for five months - and to ink a deal with the IMF, which he said would unlock substantial financial support also from the European Union that should help .

Sri Lanka govt debt rose to 115.2% of GDP by the end of 2022: Report

The Sri Lankan government's debt has risen to 115.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of 2022 from 104.5 per cent a year earlier, according to the latest national account estimates

IMF wants friendly nations to give funds to cash-strapped Pak before deal

This has led to a delay in concluding talks with the IMF for the program, Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told the upper house of parliament on Thursday

Govt taking steps to make India $5 trn economy 'at an early date': FinMin

The government on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that it is taking steps to make India a USD 5 trillion economy earlier than the International Monetary Fund's forecast year of 2026-27. The IMF's World Economic Outlook earlier said the size of the Indian economy will increase from USD 3.2 trillion in 2021-22 to USD 3.5 trillion in 2022-23 and cross USD 5 trillion in 2026-27. "The government has been taking steps to make the country a USD 5 trillion economy at an early date," Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Upper House. Observing that the outbreak of the COVID pandemic in 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 has impacted the world output, increased inflation in several countries and raised uncertainty in the world economy, he said, "lower uncertainty in the global economic outlook will help India become a USD 5 trillion-dollar economy earlier". Some of the important measures taken by the government in the past to boost economic

Is India's economy really 'dangerously close' to Hindu rate of growth?

Economists have a different view on Raghuram Rajan's apprehensions

Pak increases interest rate by 300 bps to 20% amid rising inflation

The State Bank of Pakistan has increased the interest rate by a massive 300 basis points (bps) taking it to a record-high level of 20 per cent, in accordance with the conditions set by the IMF

Banning cryptocurrency should be an option: IMF's Kristalina Georgieva

Georgieva also said that there are some disagreements between the nations on the issue of debt restructuring of low and middle income countries

Pakistan seeks another bailout as economic and political crises worsen

The South Asian state is seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund again - something it's done more than 20 times

India remains 'bright spot' to contribute 15% of global growth in 2023: IMF

India continues to remain a relative "bright spot" in the world economy, and will alone contribute 15 per cent of the global growth in 2023, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva said. While digitisation pulled out the world's fifth-largest economy from pandemic lows, prudent fiscal policy and significant financing for capital investments provided in the next year's budget will help sustain the growth momentum. "India's performance has been quite impressive. For this year, we expect India to retain a high growth rate, 6.8 per cent for the year that ends in March. For FY 2023/24 (April 2023 to March 2024) we project 6.1 per cent, a bit of slow down like the rest of the world economy, but way above the global average. And in that way, India is providing about 15 per cent of global growth in 2023," Georgieva told PTI in an interview. That is the fastest growth rate among major economies. India remains a bright spot at a time when the IMF is projectin

Pak, Sri Lanka close in on IMF deals after raising taxes to boost economies

Pakistan has taken all the measures needed to unfreeze a $6.5 billion credit line and expects to clinch the deal "any day now," Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar said in an interview

Indian economy likely to grow at 5.9% in FY24, says India Ratings

The rating agency expects the average retail and wholesale inflation to be at 5.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively

Stop giving tax evasion subsidies to the rich: IMF tells Pakistan

'My heart goes out to the people of Pakistan. But the Pakistan government needs to collect higher taxes by withdrawing subsidies to the rich'

Take steps to function as a country: IMF tells cash-starved Pakistan

Cash-strapped Pakistan must take steps to ensure that its high earners pay taxes and only the poor get the subsidies if it wants to function as a country, the International Monetary Fund has said, amid looming fears of a default. In an interview with the German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said Pakistan needs to take strong measures to avoid getting into a "dangerous place" where its debt needs to be restructured. She said the IMF was very clear that it wanted the poor people of Pakistan to be protected, the Dawn newspaper reported, It shouldn't be that the wealthy benefit from subsidies. It should be the poor [who] benefit from them," she said. "What we are asking for are steps Pakistan needs to take to be able to function as a country and not to get into a dangerous place where its debt needs to be restructured, she said. Pakistan was devastated by last year's flash floods

IMF predicts global inflation set to drop this year amid subpar growth

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the latest World Economic Outlook report this week where they predicted that global inflation is set to drop this year amid subpar economic growth

A profligate state: The financial cul-de-sac that confronts Pakistan

With a narrow industrial base and dysfunctional politics, and a counter-productive national security agenda, Pakistan could well remain an "international migraine", writes T N Ninan

Alarm bells in Pakistan as country's forex reserves drop below $3 billion

Pakistans foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased by 5.5 per cent or $170 million to $2.91 billion in the week ending February 3, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday

'Higher for longer' interest rate approach needed to inflation down: IMF

Global central banks need to make clear to financial markets the probable need for interest rates to remain higher for longer in order to bring inflation sustainably back down, the IMF said

Central banks should stick to 'higher for longer' rate approach: IMF

The S&P has risen more than 7% this year and is up more than 15% from its low in mid-October

From capex to taxation, four things to look out for in Union Budget 2023

This is the last full budget before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and will be tabled amidst a global slowdown and unprecedented geopolitical uncertainty

Expecting slowdown in Indian economy to 6.1% in 2023 from 6.8% in 2022: IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said it is expecting some slowdown in the Indian economy next fiscal year and projected the growth to 6.1 percent from 6.8 percent during the current fiscal ending March 31. The IMF on Tuesday released the January update of its World Economic Outlook, according to which the global growth is projected to fall from an estimated 3.4 percent in 2022 to 2.9 percent in 2023, then rise to 3.1 percent in 2024. Our growth projections actually for India are unchanged from our October Outlook. We have 6.8 percent growth for this current fiscal year, which runs until March, and then we're expecting some slowdown to 6.1 percent in fiscal year 2023. And that is largely driven by external factors, Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Chief Economist and Director, Research Department of the IMF told reporters here. Growth in India is set to decline from 6.8 percent in 2022 to 6.1 percent in 2023 before picking up to 6.8 percent in 2024, with resilient domestic