IMF’s Georgieva says ‘some pain’ may be necessary to fight inflation

WASHINGTON – The head of the International Monetary Fund on Friday underscored the importance of fighting inflation now to shore up the prospects for economic growth in the future, warning that doing so could cause “some pain” to consumers in the short run.

“Success over time (in lowering prices) will be beneficial for global growth, but some pain to get to that success can be a necessary price to pay,” Kristalina Georgieva said, as the IMF cut its U.S. growth forecast for 2022 by 0.8 percentage point to 2.9%.

Georgieva said the IMF believed the United States could escape a recession, but warned that the outlook had “significant” downside risks.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder; editing by Jonathan Oatis)