Message from the Managing Director

An abstract design featuring a textured panel with a blue sky and white clouds, set against a dark, patterned background with geometric shapes at the base.

Portrait of Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva

Dear Reader,

The global economy is currently a mixed picture. The good news is that inflation has descended from its mid-2022 peak, thanks largely to the concerted efforts of central banks. Economic activity has been remarkably resilient, growing faster than previously projected—particularly in the US and some emerging market and middle-income economies—but with big differences around the globe.

More troubling is the medium-term growth outlook, which is well below the historic average of 3.8 percent. Slower growth, together with high debt levels and higher interest rates, mean less money to fund public services or make vital investments. And IMF research suggests long periods of stagnation tend to push up inequality.

Many vulnerable countries are struggling to turn the page from successive crises, so they risk falling further behind. Rising geoeconomic fragmentation threatens to increase global economic disparities. While we are not seeing a wholesale reversal of globalization, the global economic architecture that helped lift 1.5 billion people out of poverty is now under strain. This occurs just as we need global cooperation more than ever to negotiate trends that affect us all, from climate change to the AI revolution. We know that an unequal world is a discontented world - one that may struggle with the task of adapting to the unstoppable transformations we face.

However, these challenges also present us with the opportunity to adapt and thrive. This will require ambitious, but achievable, policy shifts that address resource misallocation and improve labor flexibility; that promote more open trade and greater financial stability, development, and inclusion; and that enhance productivity, advance the green transition, and fully leverage technology. With the right measures in place, we can escape a low growth, rising inequality trap. According to our calculations, such measures could lift global growth by about 1.2 percentage points by 2030.

Working together, there is much that we can achieve. The IMF’s accomplishments over the past year illustrate how our members can come together to support measures which benefit us all as a global community. Among those accomplishments was the successful completion of the 16th General Review of Quotas; the meeting of funding targets for the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust; the creation and second meeting of the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable; and the creation of the 25th chair to the Executive Board. It is also illustrated in the less noted, but equally critical, daily work of IMF staff providing surveillance, policy advice, lending, and capacity development.

As the IMF marks its 80th anniversary, this Annual Report illustrates how through that work the Fund helps its members collaborate to meet global and national challenges. It outlines how, in a changing world, the IMF is adapting to ensure that its own policies, toolkits, and governance can meet the needs of its near-universal membership.

This work is made possible by the IMF’s Executive Board, whose guidance and oversight are essential to the fulfillment of the IMF’s mandate. Their approval, last year, of an increase in IMF quotas under the 16th General Review of Quotas was a strong vote of confidence in the work we do to support our members.The complex global environment makes this work particularly vital. Earlier this year, I was honored to be asked by the Executive Board to serve a second term as Managing Director. In accepting, I said I was determined to ensure the IMF is even more inclusive, effective, and responsive to the needs of its members, and remains dedicated to helping them tackle the challenges they face.

I wholeheartedly recommit myself to this task.