Global economic growth is likely to be weaker than earlier expected, the head of the International Monetary Fund IMF) said on Tuesday.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told university students at the start of a two-day visit to Jakarta that low growth was due to slower recovery in advanced economies and a further slowdown in emerging nations.
Lagarde also warned emerging economies like Indonesia to “be vigilant for spill-overs” from China’s slowdown, tighter global financial conditions and the prospects of a U.S. interest rate hike.
“Overall, we expect global growth to remain moderate and likely weaker than we anticipated last July,” Lagarde told the university students.
The IMF in July forecast global growth at 3.3 per cent this year, slightly below last year’s 3.4 per cent.
Lagarde said China’s economy was slowing, although not sharply or unexpectedly as it adjusts to a new growth model.
“The transition to a more market-based economy and the unwinding of risks built up in recent years is complex and could well be somewhat bumpy.
“That said, the authorities have the policy tools and financial buffers to manage this transition.”
Lagarde, who is visiting Indonesia for the first time in three years, said Southeast Asia’s largest economy had the “right tools to actually react” to the global volatility.
“You have very sound public finances with overall government debt in the range of twenty per cent relative to GDP, you have a relatively small deficit,” she said before meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
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