{
  "title": "Transcript of April 2023 MD Kristalina Georgieva Press Briefing on GPA",
  "publication": "IMF News, April 14, 2023",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2023/04/14/tr41423-md-gpa-press-briefing-transcript",
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  "summary": "Transcript of April 2023 MD Kristalina Georgieva Press Briefing on GPA",
  "publishDate": "2023-04-14",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Opening remarks — global outlook and risks",
      "content": "- Global growth projection: slow down to 2.8 percent in 2023 and remain weak at around 3 percent over the next five years.\n- IMF characterization: \"the weakest medium‑term forecast in decades.\"\n- Underlying inflation: described as \"stubbornly high.\"\n- Geopolitical factors: contribute to economic fragmentation, affecting trade and capital flows and increasing downside risks.\n- Recent banking sector pressures: make fighting inflation and safeguarding financial stability more complex.\n- Vulnerability of low‑income countries: high levels of debt and lagging per capita income growth make catching up harder."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Three priorities of the Global Policy Agenda",
      "content": "- Priority 1 — Restore price stability and safeguard financial stability:\n  - Central banks: expected to \"stay the course\" and hold a tight stance to prevent de‑anchoring of inflation expectations.\n  - Fiscal policy: \"Further efforts to reduce budget deficits\" to support inflation fight and reduce debt, while protecting the most vulnerable.\n  - Financial stability monitoring: vigilance on risks hidden in banks, non‑bank financial institutions, and sectors such as commercial real estate.\n- Priority 2 — Rebuild foundations for future prosperity:\n  - Structural transformations: accelerate digital revolution, improve business environment, boost human capital and inclusion, and advance the green energy transformation.\n  - Investment need for renewable energy: \"We estimate $1 trillion a year needed just for renewable energy.\"\n  - Costs of fragmentation:\n    - Trade fragmentation long‑term cost: \"as high as 7 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).\"\n    - Technological decoupling potential loss: \"some countries could lose up to 12 percent of GDP.\"\n    - Fragmentation of capital flows, including FDI, would further hit global growth.\n- Priority 3 — Solidarity with the most vulnerable countries:\n  - IMF financing since pandemic start: \"nearly $300 billion in new financing for 96 countries.\"\n  - Recent Board approvals: \"Just in the six months since our Annual Meetings in October, our Board has approved 23 new borrowing arrangements.\"\n  - Precautionary facilities: \"Nearly half of our financial commitments in the last three years has been done through our precautionary facilities.\"\n  - Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST): \"We have five countries already benefiting from the RST. We have 44 expressing interest in it.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Sovereign debt restructuring and the global sovereign debt roundtable",
      "content": "- Roundtable co‑chairs: World Bank, IMF, and India as G20 Chair; first time public, private creditors and borrowers sat together.\n- Outcomes and agreed actions:\n  - Improve information sharing on macroeconomic projections and debt sustainability assessments at an early stage of restructuring processes.\n  - Common understanding on the role MDBs can play, notably through provision of positive net flows of concessional finance.\n  - Establish a clear workstream, including a workshop on how to access and enforce comparability of treatment, with the main purpose to accelerate restructuring.\n- Timelines and comparability of treatment:\n  - Need to define principles and parameters for setting timelines; recognition that decisions will be case‑by‑case but within defined timelines.\n- Lending into arrears policy:\n  - Policy exists and was applied in the case of Suriname.\n  - Rationale: allows IMF support when a creditor has not provided assurances; risks include \"kicking the can down the road\" and potential moral hazard if a country later pays a holdout creditor.\n  - Position: it is \"an option that we will use when we believe there is no way to do the best one, to be in plan A\" — where plan A is debt restructuring."
    },
    {
      "heading": "IMF concessional financing and PRGT funding appeal",
      "content": "- Concessional financing growth: \"has increased more than four‑fold since the onset of COVID.\"\n- IMF funding request coming into the Spring Meetings: \"we have been calling for $4.7 billion in additional loan resources and $1.6 billion in additional subsidy resources to maintain interest‑free support.\"\n- Recent pledges: five countries — \"Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and the U.K.\" — have come forward with substantial new pledges or contributions.\n- Call to members: successful completion of the Review of Quotas this year to sustain IMF capacity."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Country‑specific updates and program implementation",
      "content": "- Argentina:\n  - Executive Board completed the fourth review of the program on March 31.\n  - Authorities faced a severe drought; IMF partially accommodated impacts in modification of the net international reserve accumulation target.\n  - IMF emphasis: continued commitment depends on policy implementation.\n- Ghana:\n  - IMF team has been working to put in place \"a 3 billion support program for Ghana.\"\n  - Expectation of creditor discussions \"next week\" and optimism that creditors will move swiftly; program described as a \"bridge\" for Ghana to return to markets.\n- China:\n  - Managing Director visit noted meetings with Premier Li Qiang and other leaders; impressed by China's continuing reopening and reforms.\n  - IMF projection for China in 2023: \"5.2 percent growth.\"\n  - Domestic Chinese projection cited as \"about 5 percent.\"\n  - Role in global growth: \"China this year is going to contribute about one third of global growth.\"\n  - Spillovers: \"1 percent more growth in China translates into 0.3 percent more growth for the economies that are connected to China.\"\n  - Challenges flagged: handling real estate and redirecting growth toward domestic consumption.\n- India and G20:\n  - India praised for focusing the G20 on key global economic challenges, digitalization, and active engagement on debt issues and the sovereign debt roundtable.\n- Pakistan:\n  - Climate vulnerability stressed; recent floods described as \"much more dramatic\" than 2011.\n  - IMF working with authorities under current program to avoid debt becoming unsustainable; discussing financial assurances with supporters to complete the program.\n- Egypt:\n  - Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program elements: exchange rate liberalization; increase private sector role; moderate timing of long‑term investment projects to protect macro stability.\n  - Review process: teams preparing to carry out the review following the program approved last December; the first review had been planned for \"the 15 of March.\"\n  - IMF role: anchor debt resolution through programs and support for inclusive and effective debt resolution processes."
    },
    {
      "heading": "IMF operational stance and institutional role",
      "content": "- IMF as convenor: emphasized as an institution that \"bring everybody around the same table\" to build common understanding and trust amid fragmentation pressures.\n- Financing support rationale: IMF programs \"anchor debt resolution,\" highlighting the need for IMF financial capacity to contribute to debt restructuring efforts."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Fragmentation, friend‑shoring, and supply‑chain security",
      "content": "- Drivers: COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have elevated security of supplies and reliable supply chains to higher priority.\n- Concern: risk of a new \"cold war\" style split would cause loss of talent and contributions and harm global welfare.\n- Cost estimates of fragmentation referenced from IMF analysis:\n  - Trade fragmentation costs between \"0.2 percent and 7 percent.\"\n  - Technological decoupling could produce larger losses (see earlier: \"up to 12 percent of GDP\" for some countries).\n- Policy prescription:\n  - Enhance security of supplies without pushing the world into deep fragmentation.\n  - Use institutions (like the IMF) and cooler‑headed policymaking to keep fragmentation costs low and defend citizens’ interests globally.\n\nTranscript of April 14, 2023 press briefing with Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF.\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/kristalina-georgieva\n- Proposals for a Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM) -- A Factsheet\n- Transcripts\n- PRESS CENTER\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2023/04/14/tr41423-md-gpa-press-briefing-transcript"
    }
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    "Published: April 14, 2023",
    "Global growth projection: slow down to 2.8 percent in 2023 and remain weak at around 3 percent over the next five years.",
    "IMF characterization: \"the weakest medium‑term forecast in decades.\"",
    "Underlying inflation: described as \"stubbornly high.\"",
    "Geopolitical factors: contribute to economic fragmentation, affecting trade and capital flows and increasing downside risks.",
    "Recent banking sector pressures: make fighting inflation and safeguarding financial stability more complex.",
    "Vulnerability of low‑income countries: high levels of debt and lagging per capita income growth make catching up harder.",
    "Priority 1 — Restore price stability and safeguard financial stability:",
    "Priority 2 — Rebuild foundations for future prosperity:",
    "Priority 3 — Solidarity with the most vulnerable countries:",
    "Roundtable co‑chairs: World Bank, IMF, and India as G20 Chair; first time public, private creditors and borrowers sat together.",
    "Outcomes and agreed actions:",
    "Timelines and comparability of treatment:",
    "Lending into arrears policy:",
    "Concessional financing growth: \"has increased more than four‑fold since the onset of COVID.\"",
    "IMF funding request coming into the Spring Meetings: \"we have been calling for $4.7 billion in additional loan resources and $1.6 billion in additional subsidy resources to maintain interest‑free support.\"",
    "Recent pledges: five countries — \"Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and the U.K.\" — have come forward with substantial new pledges or contributions.",
    "Call to members: successful completion of the Review of Quotas this year to sustain IMF capacity.",
    "Argentina:",
    "Ghana:",
    "China:",
    "India and G20:",
    "Pakistan:",
    "Egypt:",
    "IMF as convenor: emphasized as an institution that \"bring everybody around the same table\" to build common understanding and trust amid fragmentation pressures.",
    "Financing support rationale: IMF programs \"anchor debt resolution,\" highlighting the need for IMF financial capacity to contribute to debt restructuring efforts.",
    "Drivers: COVID and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have elevated security of supplies and reliable supply chains to higher priority.",
    "Concern: risk of a new \"cold war\" style split would cause loss of talent and contributions and harm global welfare.",
    "Cost estimates of fragmentation referenced from IMF analysis:",
    "Policy prescription:",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/kristalina-georgieva](https://www.imf.org/en/about/senior-officials/bios/kristalina-georgieva)",
    "[Proposals for a Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM) -- A Factsheet](https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/sdrm.htm)",
    "[Transcripts](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)"
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