The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, warned on Thursday that the sweeping tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump pose a significant risk to the global economy, which is already facing sluggish growth.
Georgieva emphasized the importance of avoiding further steps that could harm the global economy and urged both the United States and its trading partners to collaborate in reducing trade tensions.
"We are still assessing the macroeconomic implications of the tariff measures, but they clearly represent a significant risk to the global outlook," Georgieva said, marking her strongest comments yet on the matter.
The IMF Managing Director reiterated the IMF's call for constructive engagement between the U.S. and its trade partners to resolve the issue and reduce uncertainty. She confirmed that the IMF will offer a detailed assessment of the tariffs in its World Economic Outlook update, which will be presented during the IMF and World Bank's meetings from April 21-26 in Washington, D.C.
Earlier, Georgieva had mentioned that while the tariffs contribute to uncertainty and could slightly lower global growth projections, they are unlikely to trigger a near-term recession. The newly announced U.S. tariffs exceeded previous predictions and raised concerns among trade experts.
