Washington, April 14 (IANS) The US dollar has retained its role as a global safe-haven currency despite recent volatility, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said, even as central banks worldwide remain on high alert to contain inflation risks triggered by the Middle East conflict. Speaking during a group interview with reporters from India, Japan, the UAE, the Netherlands and Chile, IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said recent market movements indicate a return to more tr…
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Washington, April 14 (IANS) As global investors reassess risk in a shifting economic order, Mehul Pandya believes India has a chance to challenge long-standing norms in sovereign credit ratings — and to question why some economies are judged differently than others. Pandya, Managing Director (MD) and Group CEO of Care Ratings Limited, is in Washington for the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, where he is meeting policymakers, investors and multilateral…
Washington, April 14 (IANS) Governments should avoid large-scale energy subsidies and instead adopt targeted, temporary support measures as the global economy grapples with a fresh supply shock from the Middle East conflict, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cautioned on Tuesday. Speaking during a group interview with reporters from India, Japan, the UAE, the Netherlands and Chile, IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said fiscal responses must remain measured amid rising inflation …
Washington, April 14 (IANS) The global economy has taken a hit from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with growth projections lowered despite strong underlying momentum driven by technology investment and private sector resilience, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday.Speaking during a group interview with reporters from India, Japan, the UAE, the Netherlands and Chile, IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said the conflict has reversed earlier expectations of a mod…
Washington, April 14 (IANS) The rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have yet to translate into measurable gains in global productivity, even as the technology holds the potential to significantly boost economic growth in the coming years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.Speaking during a group interview with reporters from India, Japan, the UAE, the Netherlands and Chile, IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said current macroeconomic data does not yet reflect …
New Delhi, April 14 (IANS) The March Economic Outlook prepared by the Finance Division of the Pakistan Government has stated that oil markets remain on tenterhooks, multiple supply outages have heightened crude markets, while geopolitical tensions between Iran and the US have intensified. As a result, oil markets remain volatile, according to an article in the Karachi-based Business Recorder.On March 30, the IMF stated that in the Middle East and South Asia, already meagre reserves and limited m…
New Delhi, April 12 (IANS) The World Bank, the IMF, tax consultants, and commentators frequently assert that Pakistan suffers from a “tax gap” of seven to nine per cent of GDP.This gap in the shortfall between what is collected and what the law, ideally enforced, would yield, and the metric implies that this shortfall is a result of citizens not paying the taxes that are due from them. This narrative favours the tax collector and policymaker to deflect their own mistakes and increased coercion t…
New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) As geopolitical tensions rise following Israel’s attack on Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Pakistan’s already fragile economy is facing added pressure, with rising fuel prices rippling across the broader economy, driving up the cost of essential goods and straining households, a report has said.According to a Business Recorder report, fuel price adjustments — typically driven by global crude oil trends, exchange rate movements and fiscal pressures — have had a more pronou…
Washington, April 9 (IANS) A global oil shock linked to the Middle East conflict is set to hit growth and stoke inflation across energy-importing economies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned on Thursday. In her curtain raiser speech ahead of the Annual Spring Meeting of the IMF, Georgieva said the disruption has cut the world’s daily oil flow by about 13 per cent and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply by 20 per cent, triggering a broad-based rise…
New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to remove subsidy on diesel as keeping prices of fuels below the market price violates the conditions that have been fixed for its loans to the cash-strapped country, Islamabad has, in brazen defiance of the norms, gone ahead with reducing the subsidy on petrol as well.“The prime minister’s Friday night dash to slash the petrol levy — undoing a massive price hike meant to fully pass on the global incre…