Finance ministers from some of the world’s largest economies refused to have their optimism dented by the gloomy message delivered by top IMF officials at the fund’s spring meetings in Washington this week. Despite IMF forecasts highlighting the potential for a hard landing for the global economy, Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance minister, said the prospects for his country were “solid”.
Jeremy Hunt, UK chancellor, thought the IMF was over-egging the pessimism, especially about Britain. “They’re just one of a number of forecasters,” he said. “The IMF have undershot on the British economy for quite a long time — I think every year since 2016 bar one, they have undershot.”
Janet Yellen, US Treasury secretary, echoed the sentiment. “I wouldn’t overdo the negativism about the global economy,” she said. “The outlook is reasonably bright.”