IMF Forecasts Further Decline in Inflation for 2024, Highlighting Nigeria’s Ongoing Economic Struggles

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says inflation is easing faster than expected but has not been fully defeated. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of IMF, was quoted in a statement by the Fund on Thursday to have said this at the China Development Forum (CDF) 2024, in Beijing.

The Atlantic Council Think Tank hosted the event. She urged central bankers to carefully calibrate their decisions on cutting interest rates to incoming data. Georgieva said headline inflation for advanced economies was 2.3 percent in the final quarter of 2023, down from 9.5 percent just 18 months ago, and the downward trend was expected to continue in 2024.

According to her, this will create the conditions for central banks in major advanced economies to begin cutting rates in the second half of the year.

She, however, said that the pace and timing would vary. “On this final stretch, it is doubly important that central banks uphold their independence,” Georgieva said.

She urged policymakers to resist calls for early rate cuts when necessary.