Growth slowdown in India appears to be temporary; momentum to improve going ahead, says IMF chief

International Monetary Fund, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva has said growth slowdown in India appears to be temporary. Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2020 at Davos, she said the world appears a better place in January 2020 compared to what it was when IMF announced its World Economic Outlook in October 2019.

She said the factors driving this positive momentum include receding trade tension after the US-China first phase trade deal and synchronized tax cuts, among others. She, however, said 3.3 per cent is not a fantastic growth rate for the world economy. She added, "It is still sluggish growth and we want fiscal policies to be more aggressive and we want structural reforms and more dynamism".

Speaking about the emerging markets, she said they are also moving forward adding that IMF had a downgrade the growth for India but believe that it is a temporary one. We expect the momentum to improve further going ahead

She noted, there are some bright spots like Vietnam and Indonesia. She further said many African countries are doing very well, but some other nations like Mexico are not.

Weakness in long-term productivity growth and low inflation are the major risks for the global economy in time to come.

Earlier on Monday, the fund lowered growth estimate for the world economy to 2.9 per cent for 2019, citing negative surprises in few emerging market economies, especially India. The IMF also revised downwards its forecast for India to 4.8 per cent for 2019-20.