World Bank, IMF spring meetings to get underway in complex economic environment

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund's spring meetings get underway later this week with an ambitious reform and fundraising agenda likely to be overshadowed by concerns over high inflation, rising geopolitical tension and financial stability.

'Growth remains historically weak now and in the medium term,' IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said during a speech last week.

The fund now expects global growth to fall below 3% this year, and to remain at close to 3% for the next half a decade its lowest medium-term prediction since the 1990s.

Close to 90% of the world's advanced economies will experience slowing growth this year, while Asia's emerging markets are expected to see a substantial rise in the economic output with India and China predicted to account for half of all growth, Georgieva said.

Low-income countries are expected to suffer a double shock from higher borrowing costs and a decline in demand for their exports, which Georgieva said could fuel poverty and hunger to increase

Tackling inflation remains a priority

This year's spring meeting will be held against the backdrop of high inflation and ongoing concerns about the health of the banking sector following the dramatic collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Ahead of the spring meetings, the IMF and World Bank also called on wealthier countries to help plug a $1.6-billion hole in a concessional lending facility for low-income countries that was heavily used during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many low-income countries are now facing mounting debt burdens due in part to the higher interest-rate environment.

US pushes for World Bank reforms

The spring meeting also provides an opportunity to make progress on an ambitious US-backed agenda to reform the World Bank so it is better prepared to tackle long-term issues like climate change.