Interest rates may remain high until 2025: IMF chief

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) — Interest rates around the world may remain high until 2025, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday.

"Inflation is decelerating. We expect headline inflation to fall from more than 9 percent last year to 4.8 percent in 2024," she said at a leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) inter-governmental forum held in San Francisco, California.

"Core inflation is still dragging behind, and the conclusion is that unfortunately, we have to brace for interest rates remaining higher for longer. Likely through 2024 and maybe up to 2025," she added.

Georgieva said that the IMF projects global economic growth to come in at 3% for both the current year and 2024, and added that medium-term growth prospects remain weak.

"Global growth is slightly better than the projections we had when we met last year, but we are below the 3.8 percent annual growth trajectory of the previous three decades," she said.

The IMF chief urged central banks to continue to be vigilant and communicate their intentions for the future based on data.