RESILIENCE
IN THE FACE OF CHANGE

This year’s 80th anniversary of the founding of the International Monetary Fund is an opportune moment to look both backward and forward—to acknowledge the remarkable resilience of the global economy after successive recent shocks, but also to deliberate on how the IMF and its members might build on that resilience to achieve greater shared prosperity.

The experience of the global economy since the end of the pandemic has been turbulent: starting with supply-chain disruptions, an energy and food crisis triggered by Russia’s war on Ukraine, and a considerable surge in inflation, followed by a globally synchronized tightening of monetary policy. Strong policy frameworks in many countries contributed to global resilience. Nevertheless, many countries have come through this period with high debt levels and increased debt-servicing costs.

The challenge now is twofold. The first is to safeguard macroeconomic stability from further geopolitical shocks, disruptive fiscal adjustment, and the task of bringing inflation back to targets. Populations that continue to live with the legacy of successive crises will need ongoing assistance, as will those low-income countries that have experienced the strongest scarring. The second is to take advantage of global economic resilience to confront and embrace transformative developments that demand our collective action—developments such as climate change, digitalization, and an artificial intelligence revolution that, for good or ill, could reshape the nature of work. These transformations will require multilateral cooperation to mitigate risks and maximize opportunities.

The IMF is well placed to encourage that cooperation. It is the linchpin of the global financial safety net, a forum where member countries come together to provide collective insurance against the threat of financial crises. Its objective: to promote international monetary cooperation, trade, and prosperity for all. The completion of the 16th General Review of Quotas demonstrated the IMF’s capacity to bring its members together in the spirit of global collaboration and multilateralism. That sense of international cooperation was similarly demonstrated in the actions of over 40 members, whose contributions up to 2023 supported the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust by strengthening its capacity to mobilize concessional loans to its poorest members. This achievement, and the work of the IMF in general, recognizes our mutual interconnectedness and—together with partner institutions such as the World Bank—cooperation with member countries to achieve shared economic stability and prosperity.

For the IMF, that stability and prosperity are promoted through its work analyzing and providing policy advice to its member countries, through its lending programs, and through its delivery of capacity development.

In an ever-changing world, the IMF also constantly examines its work and toolkit to ensure that, within its mandate, it remains responsive to its members’ needs today and well into the future. In its April 2024 announcement appointing Kristalina Georgieva for a second five-year term as Managing Director of the IMF, the Executive Board commended her focus on ensuring that the Fund continues to adapt and evolve.