"Senseless War," Pandemic and Inflation Threaten Economy, Warns IMF Chief Ahead of World Leader Meetings

The global economy is more fragile noted IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. In her curtain-raiser speech ahead of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings, Georgieva predicted a $4 trillion global loss through 2026.

“Most of us already feel like we are experiencing a recession," said Eric LeCompte the Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network who has monitored IMF policy since 2010. “Before the pandemic, most of the world's countries were facing economic crises. Since the pandemic, we had three years of crisis after crisis and the world is facing recession."

According to Georgieva, growing debt vulnerabilities in emerging developing economies and more than 60% of low-income countries raise the risk of a widening debt crisis that harms populations and global growth. The IMF chief urged a quicker implementation of a G20 debt relief process known as the Common Framework for Debt Treatments Beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative.

“Debt relief processes are moving too slow,” stated LeCompte, a United Nations finance expert. "The debt relief processes that we have don't even cover all of the countries in dire need of relief."

Referring to food insecurity that now affects more than 345 million people worldwide, Georgieva said that a food emergency financing window that the IMF unveiled last week will help the most affected countries.

“The IMF acted rapidly to support countries facing rapidly rising food bills, but we should not forget these are still loans for countries facing too much debt,” stated LeCompte. 

Watch the curtain-raiser speech here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the IMF Food Shock Window here.

Find Jubilee USA's full list of upcoming events here.