The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, held “very productive and substantive discussions” with Chinese leaders on Monday after a visit to the country, the first leg of her Asian tour. In July, the IMF lowered its global growth forecast for 2023, but still predicts 5.2% GDP growth for China, in line with the Chinese government’s target of “around 5%.” However, growth in the world’s second-largest economy has faltered in recent months due to falling consumption, high youth unemployment and a real estate debt crisis.
“We had very productive and substantive discussions with the Chinese leadership,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a video posted on X (new Twitter name) on Monday. She cites in particular her meetings with Premier Li Qiang, Vice Premier He Lifeng (in charge of economic and financial affairs), Central Bank Governor Pan Gongsheng, and Finance Minister Liu Kun.
“One third of global growth”
The discussions focused “on the state of the world economy and on the evolution of the situation in China”, stressed Kristalina Georgieva. “We talked about the steps taken by the Chinese government to achieve the target of around 5% growth this year. It’s important for China, it’s important for the world. It’s a third of global growth.”
Kristalina Georgieva also met in Shanghai with former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, now president of the New Development Bank, an institution based in the Chinese economic capital and whose creation was proposed by the BRICS countries. During a trip to China in March, Kristalina Georgieva praised in particular the strong contribution the Asian giant will make to global growth in 2023, but she urged Beijing to rebalance its economy towards consumption.
Source: BFM TV
