IMF managing director confident on global economic outlook despite uncertainties
(VOVWORLD) - The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, said on Sunday she was confident about the economic outlook despite uncertainties around war and geopolitics as the global economy has remained resilient.
 IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva (Photo: AFP) |
In a speech at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Georgieva said the IMF will publish a paper on Monday that shows phasing out explicit energy subsidies can save 336 billion USD in the Middle East, equivalent to the economies of Iraq and Libya combined.
She added that in addition to savings, eliminating regressive energy subsidies "discourages pollution, and helps improve social spending," in a copy of the speech published on the IMF website.
In its latest regional economic update published last month, the IMF revised its GDP growth forecast for the Middle East and North Africa region downwards to 2.9% this year, due in part to short-term oil production cuts.