IMF Sees Global Growth Below 3% in 2023

International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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IMF Sees Global Growth Below 3% in 2023

International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, US. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

The International Monetary Fund expects global economic growth to dip below 3% in 2023 and to remain around 3% for the next five years, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in prepared remarks on Thursday.

That is the global lender's lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990, and well below the average growth of 3.8% seen in the past two decades, Reuters reported.

Georgieva said strong and coordinated monetary and fiscal policy actions to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine had prevented a much worse outcome in recent years, but growth prospects remained weak in both the near- and medium-term given persistently high inflation.

"Despite surprisingly resilient labor markets and consumer spending in most advanced economies, and the uplift from China’s reopening, we expect the world economy to grow less than 3 percent in 2023," she said in prepared remarks ahead of next week's spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

"With rising geopolitical tensions and still-high inflation, a robust recovery remains elusive. This harms the prospects of everyone, especially for the most vulnerable people and countries," she said at an event hosted by Meridian House and Politico.

Growth dropped by almost half to 3.4% in 2022 following the shock of Russia's war in Ukraine from the 6.1% rebound seen in 2021.

She said India and China would account for half of global growth in 2023, but about 90% of advanced economies would see a decline in their growth rate this year.

Low-income countries, saddled by higher borrowing costs and weakening demand for their exports, would see per-capita income growth staying below that of emerging economies, she said.

The IMF chief called on central banks to stay the course in the fight against inflation as long as financial pressures remained limited, but to address financial stability risks when they emerge through appropriate provision of liquidity.



World Shares Deepen Losses, with Tokyo’s Nikkei Down Nearly 4%, as Latest US Tariffs Take Effect 

A person walks past a screen showing stock trading in Beijing on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
A person walks past a screen showing stock trading in Beijing on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
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World Shares Deepen Losses, with Tokyo’s Nikkei Down Nearly 4%, as Latest US Tariffs Take Effect 

A person walks past a screen showing stock trading in Beijing on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
A person walks past a screen showing stock trading in Beijing on April 9, 2025. (AFP)

Asian and European shares slid on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 closing almost 4% lower after launch of the latest set of US tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports took effect.

Chinese markets advanced after regulators appeared to intervene, urging state-owned companies to buy shares.

Germany's DAX lost 2.1% to 19,857.36. In Paris, the CAC 40 declined 2.1% to 6,949.92. Britain's FTSE 100 gave up 2% to 7,753.42.

The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.7% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%.

Markets have been wobbly for days, with investors flummoxed over what to make of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 dropped 1.6% after wiping out an early gain of 4.1%. That took it nearly 19% below its record set in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8%, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1%.

Stocks had rallied globally on Tuesday, with indexes up 6% in Tokyo, 2.5% in Paris and 1.6% in Shanghai. Any optimism or buying enthusiasm appeared to have dissipated by the time the sharply higher tariffs became reality.

The Nikkei 225 fell 3.9% to 31,714.03.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 20,205.04, while the Shanghai Composite index reversed early losses, gaining 1.3%. to 3,186.81.

Taiwan led losses in Asia, as its Taiex plunged 5.8%. Big tech manufacturers were among the biggest decliners. Computer chip giant TSMC Corp. dropped 3.8% while iPhone maker Hon Hai Precision Industry plunged 10%.

South Korea's Kospi lost 1.7% to 2,293.70, and the government said it would provide help for its beleaguered automakers.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 1.8% to 7,375.00. Shares in New Zealand also fell.

In India, the Sensex declined 0.5% as the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate, while Bangkok's SET shed 0.8%.

Analysts have been warning to expect more swings up and down in markets given the uncertainty over how long Trump will keep the stiff tariffs on imports, which will raise prices for US shoppers and slow the economy. If they last a long time, economists and investors expect them to cause a recession. If Trump lowers them through negotiations relatively quickly, the worst-case scenario might be avoided.

Hope still remains on Wall Street that negotiations may be possible, which helped drive the morning’s rally. Trump said Tuesday that a conversation with South Korea’s acting president helped them reach the “confines and probability of a great DEAL for both countries.”

On Tuesday, Japanese stocks led global markets higher after the country’s prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, appointed his trade negotiator for talks with the United States following a conversation with Trump.

China said it will “fight to the end” and warned of countermeasures after Trump threatened on Monday to raise his tariffs even further on the world’s second-largest economy.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Trump’s threats of even higher tariffs on China will become reality after midnight, when imports from China will be taxed at a stunning 104% rate.

That would coincide with Trump’s latest set of broad tariffs, which are scheduled to kick in at 12:01 a.m. And Trump has made clear that he does not intend to have any exemptions or exclusions, according to the top US trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer.

The US trade representative also said in testimony before a Senate committee that roughly 50 countries have already been in contact, and he’s told them: “If you have a better idea to achieve reciprocity and to get our trade deficit down, we want to talk with you, we want to negotiate with you.”

Trump’s trade war is an attack on the globalization that’s shaped the world’s economy and helped bring down prices for products on store shelves but also caused manufacturing jobs to leave for other countries. Trump has said he wants to narrow trade deficits, which measure how much more the United States imports from other countries than it sends to them as exports.

In other dealings early Wednesday, US benchmark crude oil fell $1.82 to $57.76 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed $1.81 to $61.01 per barrel.

The US dollar fell to 145.09 Japanese yen from 146.29 yen. The euro rose to $1.1060 from $1.0995.

The price of gold rose $71 to $3,061 an ounce.