## Opening Remarks by First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath at the IMF Economic Review Conference on Transformational Recovery: Seizing Opportunities from the Crisis

_IMF News, June 23, 2022_

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: June 23, 2022

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### Context and setting
- Speaker: Gita Gopinath, First Deputy Managing Director.
- Event: IMF Economic Review Summer Conference, jointly organized by Bank Al-Maghrib and the IMF.
- Location and date: Rabat, Morocco; June 23, 2022.
- Remarks convey both immediate crisis assessment and emphasis on medium- and long-term structural policies for emerging and developing economies.

### Immediate challenges weighing on global recovery
- Pandemic resurgence and renewed surges of the virus.
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and escalated sanctions.
- High and broadening inflation beyond energy and food commodity prices.
- Recent strict lockdown measures in China causing additional growth drag and supply-chain disruptions.
- IMF April downgrade of global growth projections to 3.6 percent for both 2022 and 2023.
- Bottom line articulated: global growth is likely to be lower than expected, while inflation is higher.

### Humanitarian and distributional impacts
- Pandemic impact on poverty: estimated additional 75 million people pushed into extreme poverty in 2021 relative to pre-pandemic trends.
- High food prices and supply disruptions—exacerbated by the war in Ukraine—have significantly worsened outcomes for the poor.
- Regional food insecurity vulnerability noted: in the Middle East and Africa, food accounts for 40 percent of consumers’ spending.

### Downside risks highlighted
- Worsening of the situation in Ukraine: higher human and economic costs and increased global fragmentation.
- Higher-than-expected inflation: intensification of the cost-of-living crisis and potential for inflamed social tensions.
- Associated tighter global financial conditions: added strain from high debt levels.
- More protracted growth slowdown in China: further downward pressure on global activity.

### Longer-term concerns and strategic priorities
- Risk that current shocks could leave long-term scars, reducing growth for years—particularly for emerging and developing economies with limited policy space and lower vaccination rates.
- Need to preserve focus on medium- and long-term structural issues even amid immediate crises.
- Structural themes for policy and research emphasis at the conference: structural transformation, trade, inequality, climate change, and related topics.

### Call for collaboration and action
- Emphasis on collaborative efforts among scholars and policymakers to identify problems and find solutions.
- Importance of building resilience and pursuing a transformational recovery that strengthens future potential.
- Anticipation of continued collaboration, including the 2023 Annual Meetings in Marrakesh, as a venue to deepen partnerships.

*Opening Remarks by First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath, Rabat, Morocco; June 23, 2022.*

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## References

- [Gita Gopinath](https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/shirin-hamid)
- [People's Republic of China and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/CHN/index.htm)
- [Ukraine and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/UKR/index.htm)
- [Morocco and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/MAR/index.htm)
- [Speeches](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2022/06/17/sp062322-fdmd-opening-remarks-imfer2022-conference_