IMF assures that world economy will slow down due to US tariffs

Published at: 18/04/2025 06:10 PM

Faced with the global trade tax measures implemented by the United States (US), the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, warned that the global economy will slow down as costly uncertainty increases, which will curb productivity.

“Trade continues, but interruptions entail costs, which will affect new growth forecasts and will generate higher inflation in some,” said the multilateral organization.

A group of finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in Washington to assess a global environment shaken by US President Donald Trump's announcements to redirect world trade and isolate his main rival, China.

A reduction in growth in 2025 by the IMF would follow other recent reductions in the outlook, including a report from Wednesday by the World Trade Organization, which forecasts a contraction in world merchandise trade this year and the United States.

Georgieva said in her speech that trade tensions are “boiling” due to an erosion of trust. “Global economic integration has lifted large numbers of people out of poverty and has made the world as a whole a better place. But not everyone has benefited,” he said, in addition to pointing to the relocation of jobs to areas with lower salaries and inflation fueled by supply chain interruptions.

He also said that China must boost private consumption, while Europe must become more integrated, in particular its capital markets, and follow Germany's example by spending more on defense and infrastructure. For the US, the “main challenge of macroeconomic policy” is to reduce public debt. “The secret to seizing the moment is to focus all your energy not on conserving the old, but on building the new,” he said.

Mazo News Team