The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved today a disbursement of US$88.327 million (SDR 69.40 million) to Malawi under the new Food Shock Window of the Rapid Credit Facility.

Malawi is the first low-income country to make use of the Food Shock Window since it was adopted by the Executive Board last month.

At the same time, the Executive Board discussed a new Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for Malawi, which was approved by the Management of the IMF on November 11th.

“Malawi is the first low-income country to make use of Food Shock Window since it was adopted by the Executive Board last month. At the same time, Executive Board discussed a new Staff Monitor Program for Malawi, which was approved by the management of the IMF on November 11th. The discussion was held in the context of Malawi’s challenging economic and humanitarian situation to cyclones and hikes in fuel and fertilizer prices at the beginning of this year affected agricultural production and contributed to high food prices and food insecurity. To this end, the approved financing, along with the SMP are testament of the support of the IMF and the international community to Malawi and its ambitious macroeconomic adjustment and reform program. This support, along with the additional financing from other institutions and donors, should ease Malawi’s financial difficulties and improve the food security situation,” said Mika Saito, Malawi’s Mission Chief at the IMF.

Concurrently, the Executive Board discussed a 12-month Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for Malawi, which was approved by the Management of the IMF on November 11. With timely implementation of the program, the SMP would help the authorities establish a track record of policy implementation, possibly paving the way to an IMF-supported upper credit tranche (UCT) program.

“An SMP is a program that countries request when they need to build a track record towards a Board endorsed arrangement, for example, an Extended Credit Facility, ECF arrangement. For IMF’s management to approve an SMP for Malawi, therefore, is not new in itself. What is new is that the Executive Board discussed this SMP at its inception. This discussion took place for two reasons. First, there are concerted international efforts by creditors and donors to provide substantial new financing, grants and debt relief. Second, Malawi has significant outstanding fund credit under emergency financing instruments,” added Saito.

The Executive Board, which recently amended the policy for SMPs to allow for Program Monitoring with limited Board involvement (PMB) on October 4, 2022, assessed that Malawi’s policy program is sufficiently robust to meet the stated objectives under the SMP and that its implementation is expected to achieve the purpose of building a track record toward a Upper Credit Tranche quality Fund arrangement.

“Malawi’s SMP discussed has five key objectives. First, enforcing fiscal discipline. It would be supported by a realistic fiscal budget and timely production of comprehensive fiscal reports. Second, restoring price stability. Recent hikes in inflation are adversely affecting lives of 20 million Malawians, half of whom are already living in poverty. Third, rebuilding official foreign exchange reserves. This should help improve market sentiment and normalize the foreign exchange market. Fourth, restoring debt sustainability. A concerted effort among authorities, the creditors and the international development partners will be crucial in achieving this goal. Fifth, and finally, addressing weaknesses in governance and institutions. This will play a critical role in achieving all four objectives. The Executive Board assess that Malawi’s SMP is sufficiently robust to meet its objectives and to build a track record towards an ECF arrangement,” said Saito.

To read the full press release, click here.

As the global economy is suffering turbulent times, the IMF has warned Governments that they must reduce budget deficits incurred during the pandemic. The warning comes as energy and food prices soar, causing extreme poverty worldwide

After the unprecedented expansion in 2020, monetary and fiscal policies continue to move together, pivoting towards simultaneous tightening in 2022.  

Vitor Gaspar, IMF Fiscal Affairs Department Director highlighted this need for consistency between monetary and fiscal policy.

“With deficits falling from 9.7% of GDP in 2020 to 4.7% of GDP in 2022. Inflation surprises help initially, but this effect cannot endure. Once inflation becomes broad based and persistent inflation, expectations catch up. High and volatile inflation makes credit more expensive and its costs less predictable. In the context of high inflation, high debt, rising interest rates and elevated uncertainty. Consistency between monetary and fiscal policy is paramount for economic and financial stability in most countries. This means setting the budget on its tightening course, prioritizing macroeconomic and financial stability,” said Gaspar.

Vitor Gaspar, IMF Fiscal Affairs Department Director warned that extreme poverty is increasing rapidly and must be addressed. 

“After decades of reduction in extreme poverty, extreme poverty has increased in the world and it is projected to stay well above the pre-pandemic expected path going forward. That is a very concerning development. Together with that, we have that food insecurity has increased significantly, as has the number of people that suffer from undernourishment. So the issue of nutrition and food security are crucial and priority goals, as you rightly emphasized in this group of countries, budgetary sources, financing resources are scarce. But it’s in the nature of the political and policy tradeoffs that policymakers face, that food security and nutrition have to be given priority,” said Gaspar.

An overview of the situation in Africa was outlined by Paolo Medas, IMF Fiscal Affairs Department Deputy.

“Africa is suffering a set of unprecedented shocks that are creating a massive setback on economic development, but also especially on creating a food crisis and a rising poverty. So we had seen a significant improvement in many areas pre-pandemic, but in recent years, many of these trends have reverted. So what we are seeing now is, for example, according to estimates by the World Bank, 11 million more people will be entering extreme poverty now than what would have been expected under pre-pandemic trends. The food crisis, as we already mentioned, has had a devastating effect in Africa. Some estimates indicate that more than 120 million people in Africa alone are suffering from food and insecurity, though they don’t have enough to eat. So this is a very, very serious situation and governments are facing extremely difficult trade offs,” said Medas.

Vitor Gaspar, IMF Fiscal Affairs Department Director highlighted the need for a more effective tax system.

“The Fiscal Monitor emphasizes the need to be prepared, including by having a broad based and fair tax system that, in our view, could well include taxation of rents, taxation of excess profits, but also a flexible, comprehensive and scalable Social Security system that could be adapted to circumstances like those that countries are facing right now with the energy and food crisis. So I do think that the fiscal policy has a central role to play in politics and social cohesion and has also a central role to play in terms of the social contract,” said Gaspar.

To see the full report: https://www.imf.org/-/media/Files/Publications/fiscal-monitor/2022/October/English/text.ashx

The International and Monetary Financial Committee met in Washington, DC Friday (October 14), the culmination of the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings.

The group’s Chairman Nadia Calvino of Spain released a statement summarizing negotiations and talks around the 46^th Meeting that the IMFC’s members see the global economy at a delicate moment.

“The global recovery is slowing amidst high uncertainties. Hit by multiple shocks, the global economy is facing significant challenges, and the outlook is more difficult than in April and subject to downside risks. More than two years of pandemic, followed by Russia’s war against Ukraine, are weighing heavily on economic activity with significant impact on livelihoods,” the statement opened.

“Inflation is at multi-decade highs, debt is elevated, food and energy security risks are increasing, supply-chain and trade disruptions persist, and financial conditions are tightening, while capital flow and exchange rate volatility have increased,” the statement continued.

The IMFC was unable to reach consensus on a communique due to resistance by the Russian delegation.

“The global economy is subject to increased fragmentation risks. The steep rise in the cost of living is affecting everyone, with the most vulnerable hit the hardest. These developments come on top of intensifying inequality, debt vulnerabilities, and climate shocks,” the statement read.

The group called for cohesive action to tackle the greatest problems.

“Urgent multilateral action is needed to address shared challenges. We will further step up efforts to overcome the food crisis in coordination with international organizations and development partners and, in this context, will focus on supporting affected countries in protecting vulnerable populations from the impact of food price shocks and on lifting of export restrictions on food and fertilizers. We will continue to support vulnerable countries as they address their pressing financing needs and debt vulnerabilities,” it concluded.

For the full statement click Here.

The shared message at the IMF’s seminar on getting to net zero was that the time to act is now. Multilateral institutions including IFIs are key contributors to the climate agenda, and working together to help shape debate on climate change is vital in assisting member countries to reach the goals set by the Paris Agreement.

Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director stressed that billions more must be invested in order to reach the targets set.

“If we are to reach the Paris agreement you started from. We as a world have to invest somewhere between three and $6 trillion a year. How much are we investing today? 630 billion. 5 to 10 times less than it is necessary. Secondly, the time they dimension. If we do not shift our trajectory this decade. We are cooked. And if you don’t want to be cooked, then we should speed up,” said the Managing Director.

Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director called on institutions including the IMF to act now.

“Dealing with the climate crisis is a huge public good, and therefore we should not shy away of thinking how we use public money to remove obstacles for private money to move on the scale and in the timeframe that is necessary. And this is why I call on my friends here at the IMF our resilience, the sustainability trust. First and foremost has to serve as barrier removal for massive investment in mitigation and adaptation. In the developing emerging markets in developing countries. And with this I rest my case,” said Georgieva.

David Malpass, World Bank Group President stressed the need for action on climate change.

“We have to acknowledge that mankind is causing greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change and that it’s a it’s an actionable thing for this group, but for the whole world,” said Malpass.  

As the world prepares for the COP 27 climate conference, Alok Sharma, President of COP 26 urged positive action, and the need for private sector investment.

“My view is that when it comes to climate, what we agreed in Paris, what we agreed in Glasgow after the baseline of our ambition, we cannot move from that. And what we then need is the Montreal system to go into COP 27 with hope and positivity. And I’ve seen that here at this meeting. I saw it at UNGA, I saw it at the cop that we’ve had in Kinshasa, and the MDB is the IFIs. I think I’ve got a really important role to play in terms of helping to mobilize the finance. None of this is possible without money,” said Sharma.

Nadia Calvino, First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain highlighted the need for technology alongside financial investment, in fighting the effects of climate change.

“Money cannot be the whole solution. I would think technology also needs to help. And I was thinking how working together we managed to have the vaccine to fight COVID in in a year’s time, which was, you know, never expected. This was really something that all experts said this will take years. So when we get together and act in a coordinated manner and put sufficient money into it, we do achieve the technological change that is necessary to achieve our goals. So I think indeed the synergies between the different institutions,” said Calvino.

For more on the IMF’s work on climate change: https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/climate-change

In a wide-ranging interview with IMF Today, President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde highlighted tackling inflation as the key challenge over the coming months.

Lagarde highlighted Ukraine’s recent gain in Russia’s war on the country as a success.

“I think the big difference between April and now is that Ukraine is gaining ground, that it had lost in those days, and that it is showing a spirit of resilience and determination, which probably was not expected back in April. We all hoped that it would be the case, but clearly it is being demonstrated on the ground,” said Lagarde.

President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde said that the Bank must return inflation to where it needs to be.

“Well, from my own perspective, as president of the European Central Bank, what we need to do is to return inflation to where it should be in the medium term, that is 2%. We are at a very high level and miserably high at the moment, and we need to do the job that we have to do, which is to return to the 2% medium term inflation. That for us is price stability. Now, obviously, lots of other things have to be to be done by lots of other people. And I’m sure that the IMF will be a good forum to discuss what is needed for Ukraine in terms of financial support, in terms of reconstruction when the war is over, and so on and so forth. People I know are working hard on those on those numbers and on the rescue packages that need to be put in place,” said Lagarde.

President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde said that the Bank has the ability to achieve price stability.

“Of course it is possible to work on consensus. It doesn’t mean that there is unanimity. It means that people are prepared to move in the right direction, which is determined by the mission that they have. In the case of the European Central Bank, it’s fairly straightforward. We have to deliver price stability. We have defined price stability as 2% in the medium term, and we have to use the tools that we have available, which will be the most efficient to deliver that,” said Lagarde.

President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde highlighted the need for institutions to cooperate and work together.

“I would say that. Nobody can go alone and count on it’s own resources only. So we are in a situation where everybody needs to help everybody else, be mindful of everybody else and also accept that we don’t know it all. We know that this winter is going to be tough. What we know about next year. Yeah. Everybody likes to make prediction. To have projections for a year from now, I think we have to be a little bit humble and be prepared to constantly review the situation, revisit our projections, and take the determined action that is needed,” said Lagarde.

To view full interviews from IMF Today: https://www.youtube.com/user/imf/featured

The IMF is warning of a period of ‘extreme volatility’ in financial markets in the latest Global Financial Stability Report released Tuesday (October 11) in Washington, D.C.

The global fallout of the highest inflation in decades, the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the property downturn in China could amplify risks in the financial system as a whole said Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor and Director, IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department.

“Markets have been extremely volatile. Risk assets, such as equities and corporate bonds have declined sharply. A deterioration in market liquidity has amplified price moves, and financial conditions have tightened globally in many advanced economies. Financial conditions are now tight by historical standards. In some emerging markets, they have reached levels last seen during the height of the COVID 19 crisis,” said Adrian.

Tobias Adrian, IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department Chief warned of the challenges ahead for the Bank of England.

“With the expansionary fiscal policy, the Bank of England would have to raise interest rates that much more in order to contain inflation and to get inflation back to the mandated objective. So, you know, one part of the answer to the question is, yes, the shift of fiscal policy would certainly change the trajectory. Now, you were asking, is that the only way to change the trajectory in yields? And as you saw in the recent past two weeks, asset purchases can also change yields in the marketplace. But of course, the Bank of England has the inflation price stability objective, and that is going to stand in the way of permanently having lower interest,” said Adrian

The report also highlighted the slowing property market in China.

“We have seen stress in the Chinese property market, of course, compared to recent years. The growth rate in China has been declining to some degree and that is one contributing factor to the slowing of the property market. But also, of course, there has been a lot of investment in properties over many years. And so that has also led to a demand and supply imbalance and in some regions, in some cities. So when we look at property, developing country companies in particular, their stock and bond prices have been declining as the prospects for sales going forward, for example, have been readjusted. So sales have been declining steadily,” said Adrian.

Adrian also described the current economic outlook as being very severe, and commented on the impact the UK’s problems are having on other countries.

“We are in the worst quintile here. So the only times where things were worse was in times of acute crisis, such as the euro crisis, the global financial crisis, or the 2020 COVID crisis. So in that sense, you know, we are certainly at a distressed moment. But again, the baseline is one where things continue to be orderly. Now, in terms of spillovers from the UK to other countries. So we have of course seen that the yield movements that are correlated to some degree, but we haven’t seen the kind of dysfunction spill over into other markets to date,” said Adrian.

To see the full report: http://www.IMF.org/GFSR-Oct22

Risks have increased since the April 2022 Global Financial Stability Report and the balance is skewed to the downside, announced Tobias Adrian, IMF’s Financial Counsellor today (Tuesday, October 11, 2022) in Washington, DC.

Amid the highest inflation in decades and extraordinary uncertainty about the outlook, markets have been extremely volatile.

“We have high inflation and the deteriorating global economic outlook. At the same time, we have geopolitical risks with economic spillovers from the war in Ukraine. On top of all of this, global financial conditions have tightened as central banks continue to raise interest rates. Our latest Global Financial Stability Report shows that financial stability risks have increased since our last report, with the balance of risks tilted to the downside. Looking at the global banking sector, we can see that it has withstood the pressures up to now, helped by high levels of capital and ample liquidity. However, the IMF’s global bank stress test shows that these buffers may not be enough for some banks. For example, if we were to have a situation in 2023 with an abrupt and sharp tightening of global financial conditions enough to send the economy into recession coupled with high inflation, then up to 29% of bank assets in emerging markets would breach capital requirements. At the same time, most banks in advanced economies would pull through,” said Adrian.

Confronting the specter of stubbornly high inflation, central banks in advanced economies and many emerging markets have had to move to an accelerated path of monetary policy normalization to prevent inflationary pressures from becoming entrenched. As an intended consequence of monetary tightening, global financial conditions have tightened in most regions.

“We see that rising interest rates have brought on additional stress. Both governments facing high debt levels, as well as non-bank financial institutions such as insurance companies, pension funds, and asset managers dealing with stretched balance sheets. We also see European financial markets showing signs of strain. The recent volatility in the UK and China’s sharper than expected slowdown also raised concerns. Emerging markets more broadly are confronting multiple risks. These stemmed from high borrowing costs, high inflation, volatile commodity markets and heightened uncertainty about the global economic outlook. The strains are particularly severe for smaller developing economies,” added Adrian.

According to the IMF’s Integrated Policy Framework, where appropriate, some emerging market economies managing the global tightening cycle could consider using some combination of targeted foreign exchange interventions, capital flow measures, and/or other actions to help smooth exchange rate adjustments to reduce financial stability risks and maintain appropriate monetary policy transmission.

“Central banks must act resolutely to bring inflation back to target and avoid the anchoring of inflation expectations, which could damage their credibility. They need to ensure clear communication in three areas. On their policy decisions, on their commitment to the price stability objectives, and on the need to further normalize monetary policy. In managing the global tightening cycle, emerging markets could consider targeted foreign exchange interventions and capital flow measures. Both of these would help smooth exchange rate adjustments and reduce financial stability risks. Emerging and frontier markets should reduce the risk from debt vulnerabilities, including through early contact with creditors and support from the international community. Finally, for countries near debt distress, bilateral and private sector creditors should find ways to coordinate on preemptive restructuring to avoid costly and hard defaults,” said Adrian.

To read the full report, click here.

The IMF projects global growth is slowing under the burden of high inflation, impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine and lingering effects of pandemic announced Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF’s Chief Economist on Tuesday, October 11 in Washington, DC.

The Fund expects global growth to remain unchanged in 2022 at 3.2 percent and to slow to 2.7 percent in 2023—0.2 percentage points lower than the July forecast—with a 25 percent probability that it could fall below 2 percent.

“The global economy is weakening further and facing a historically fragile environment. The outlook continues to be shaped by three forces. Persistent and broadening inflation, causing a cost-of-living crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the associated energy crisis, and the economic slowdown in China. For this year, our projection for world GDP growth is unchanged at 3.2%, as in the July World Economic Outlook update. Global growth is forecast to slow down to 2.7% in 2023, 0.2 percentage point lower than projected in July. The slowdown is broad based. More than a third of the global economy will contract in 2023, while the three largest economies in the world, the United States, the Euro area, and China will continue to stall. For the first time, we calculated risks around the baseline projections. We find there is a 25% chance that growth will fall below 2% in 2023. This happened exceedingly rarely in the past and a 10 to 15% chance it will fall below 1%, corresponding to a decline in real output per capita,” said Gourinchas.

Downside risks remain elevated, while policy trade-offs to address the cost-of-living crisis have become acutely challenging. The risk of monetary, fiscal, or financial policy miscalibration has risen sharply at a time when the world economy remains historically fragile and financial markets are showing signs of stress.

“Unfortunately, most risks to the outlook are to the downside. There’s a risk of monetary policy, miscalibration at a time of high uncertainty and fragility. In particular, we are concerned that central banks will ease too early, causing inflation to remain excessively high and requiring a much larger loss of output later. A persistently strong dollar could fuel inflation and amplify financial tightening, especially in emerging market and developing economies. High post-pandemic debts and higher borrowing costs could cause widespread debt distress in low-income countries. A deeper real estate crisis in China could cause severe financial stress. The war could further destabilize energy markets. A resurgence of the pandemic would hit under-vaccinated regions hard, especially Africa. Lastly, further geopolitical fragmentation could hamper global policy coordination and trade,” added Gourinchas.

Persistent and broadening inflation pressures have triggered a rapid and synchronized tightening of monetary conditions, alongside a powerful appreciation of the US dollar against most other currencies. Tighter global monetary and financial conditions will work their way through the economy, weighing demand down and helping to gradually subjugate inflation.

“The biggest fight now is the fight against inflation. Central banks are laser focused and they need to keep a steady hand. Growth will slow in 2023 as conditions tighten and some financial fragilities may emerge. But the main priority should be to restore price stability. This is the bedrock of future economic prosperity. Next, fiscal policy needs to be guided by coherent economic principles. First, pandemic era stimulus should be withdrawn, and buffers rebuilt. Second, fiscal policy should not work at cross-purposes with monetary policy. Third, the energy crisis will be long lasting. Solving it requires supply to increase and demand to decrease. Price signals will be important to achieve that. Governments should provide direct, temporary and targeted help to low- and middle-income families. Finally, many countries are struggling with the strength of the dollar. Yet this reflects mostly the speed of the tightening cycle in the United States, as well as the energy crisis. Unless financial markets become severely disrupted, monetary policy should focus on inflation while allowing the exchange rate to adjust to underlying economic forces,” warned Gourinchas.

To read the full report, click here.

Alfred Kammer, Director of the IMF’s European Department held a press conference to address questions about Europe’s economy, including the fallout following the launch of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Alfred Kammer, Director of European Department, IMF said that the IMF would wait to see the UK’s re-calibrated fiscal policy before assessing the situation further.

“We understand that the UK authorities are in the process of recalibrating the fiscal package they have announced and we wait until we get the details and at that point in time we are going to assess the package. I should also say that the UK is a country with strong institutions. We welcome the government’s commitment to involve the Office of the Budget Responsibility and that report will continue to do what is needed to address market dysfunction and preserve financial stability,” said Kammer.

Alfred Kammer, Director of European Department, IMF addressed the risk of rationing in Europe due to the energy crisis caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“We are on a knife’s edge. It looks like most countries actually will be able to avoid rationing and so it can be taken care of with a price mechanism. The issue is still a risk because if the winter is cold and that is combined with the Russian gas shut off, some countries may still experience rationing despite having filled refill storage tanks over the summer,” said Kammer.

On Russia, Alfred Kammer, Director of European Department, IMF explained that the current outlook is negative with the country on the brink of a deep recession, and negative growth for the next year at least.

“Growth in Russia this year and next year is going to be negative and combined. Over those two years, GDP levels will be lower by ten percentage points than pre-war. So that is a deep recession Russia has entered. When you’re looking at the global outlook and also the European outlook, we see a lower growth. But we are not seeing deep recessions like in Russia. I should, of course, add that the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the higher energy prices,” said Kammer.

Alfred Kammer, Director of European Department, IMF advised Turkish policy makers to increase interest rates and tighten monetary and fiscal policy in order to improve the economic outlook for Turkey.

“It is important to implement a tighter monetary policy and that means to increase interest rates. And coupled with that, again, is what we are seeing, that macroeconomic policies need to be aligned. And that means given also limited fiscal space. Fiscal policy in Turkey needs to be tightened in order to support taking care of bringing down inflation,” said Kammer.

Alfred Kammer, Director of European Department, IMF highlighted the positive gains being made in Spain, and suggested that Spain would not experience a technical or outright recession.

“Some other countries will experience technical recession and some will have outright recession. So Spain will not experience that and Spain’s growth will actually be stronger than in other European countries,” said Kammer.

Full briefing Here. 

International Monetary Fund and Financial Committee (IMFC) Chair Nadia Calvino and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva summarized the outcome of the 46^th IMFC at the 2022 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the messaging from the IMF is clear.

“There was also a recognition that they are there is more that we need to do, especially in the area of debt and urging the IMF to very forcefully step forward with possible solutions to the to bring more impactful needs in the common framework and also to proactively work for the creditors and debtors to seek early resolution to that problems that we need clear guidelines, we need more predictability, and we need fair treatment of all creditors, public and private. I want to finish by saying what I said in the end. We were running out of time that you turned to me and said, How would you sum up this meeting? And my summing up was, buckle up and keep going. And this is what we intend to do,” said Georgieva.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called for an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“On a very on a human level and a practical level and objective level. Stop the war. Stop the war. I’m looking at this audience. Wouldn’t you be thinking that this is the most straightforward, straightforward way to get the world economy in better shape? Stop the war,” said Georgieva.

IMFC Chair Nadia Calvino highlighted the global economic situation as a factor in the growth of far-right extremism.

“The current environment is obviously one of slowing down growth, high cost of living or increasing cost of living in many parts of the world. Deep changes that have to do with digitalization, climate change, also with the geopolitical shift which is going on, rising inequality in many of our countries also. And these is an environment which is quite open to the messages of people that have very simple and totally ineffective and wrong solutions to complex matters,” said Calvino

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva confirmed that an IMF loan to Egypt is imminent.

“We are now working on much smaller technical details. And yes, it has taken some time, but these are not trivial matters. It is it boils down to exchange rate. The policy in Egypt has to be thoughtfully designed. And as you know, there has been also change institutionally in Egypt, the change of the governor of the central bank. So the new governor does need to feel comfortable with where we are headed with the policy. So short answer. Stay tuned. It is really at the finish line to be crossed virtually within days,” said Georgieva.

To read the full IMFC Chair Statement Click Here.