IMF chief says India remains a 'bright spot', to contribute 15% of global growth in 2023

HIGHLIGHTS

• India remains a bright spot in the world economy, says Kristalina Georgieva
• India should focus on creating more opportunities for women
• IMF chief said that the world economy continues to remain resilient but 2023 will be a bit difficult

India alone has the potential to contribute 15 per cent of the global growth in 2023, said International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, adding that the country continues to attain a ‘bright spot’ in the world economy. 

India should completely focus on structural reforms, and make more opportunities for women, Georgieva said in an interview with PTI on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bengaluru.

“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 said.

This comes as the IMF predicts that global growth will fall from 3.4 percent in 2022 to 2.9 percent in 2023, India remains a bright spot, according to Georgieva.

"Why is India a bright spot? Because one, the country has done really well to turn the digitalization that has been already moving quite well into a major driver of overcoming the impact of the pandemic and creating opportunities for growth and jobs," the Managing Director noted.

 "The resilience of labour markets and a mild winter in Europe have helped countries in avoiding a recession," she said, adding that the world is likely to enter a recession in 2023.

Georgieva reiterated that the G20 countries had made a clear commitment to overcome gaps for the benefit of debt-burdened countries. She emphasised the importance of the political agreement in overcoming disparities in global financial architecture.

On the economic outlook for 2023, the IMF chief said that the world economy continues to remain resilient but 2023 will be a bit difficult.

"The war in Ukraine is a great source of uncertainty. It is very uncertain how the war will evolve and this can make energy markets anxious. We hope for peace and calm and a stop to the war," she said.

In a separate development, PM Modi, during his address at G20, highlighted that the financial viability of many countries has come under immense threat due to unsustainable debt. Stressing on building trust, he added that the belief in international financial institutions has been affected, and that food and energy security have become major issues across the world.
 

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