WASHINGTON, DC - WITH economies across the world still reeling from the impact of the global slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and also the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) believe more could be done to combat the situation.
Economics, finances and the state of countries around the world are the focus for the 2022 Annual Meeting of the IMF and the World Bank currently taking place in Washington, DC.
This is the first in-person session since the onset of the pandemic and the challenges surrounding inflation, and tackling them are taking center stage as the key talking points this week.
With Finance Ministers and Governors of Central Banks across the world gathered under one roof, Tobias Adrain, the Director Monetary and Capital Market, used the topic of “Financial Stability” to call on them to do more to act resolutely in bringing inflation back to targets.
Inflation has been a pain for governments since the start of 2022 as the prices for food and other household commodities have skyrocketed.
Economists have pointed to the war in Ukraine, to the decision by oil producing nations to cut their level of production of fuel, and the supply chain bottleneck as some of the reasons for the runaway inflation the world is facing.
In St. Kitts and Nevis, economic forecasters predicted that the inflation rate grew by 1.2 percent last year, and they are projecting a further 4.2 percent at the end of this year.
The IMF reported that for 2021, the global inflation rate grew to 4.7 percent and for this year, jumped to a staggering 8.8 percent.
“The high uncertainty clouding the economic outlook hampers policy makers ability to provide explicit and precise guidance about the future path of the monetary policy, clear communication about the policy function, the unwavering commitment to achieve the mandate of price stability, and the need to further normalize, and in some cases, tighten monetary policy is crucial to avoid unwarranted market disruptions,” the Director explained.
A similar position was articulated by the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, who spoke with SKNVibes News on the sidelines of the meeting, and he too raised concerns of the inflation and the impact it could have on consumers in the OECS, including St. Kitts and Nevis.
Asked about the measures taken by the United States Central Bank to curb the rising inflation, Governor Timothy Antoine suggested that the inflation rate could impact the people across the world, including those in the Caribbean.
He reminded that the world is a global environment and anything that hits the pockets of the average Americans would be felt, specifically in the sub-region.
With the region being dependent on remittances and tourists from the United States, for example, it could have a significant impact on the region’s economy.
