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BANGKOK, Thailand: International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Saturday this year\u2019s Annual Meetings with global policymakers were marked by \u201coptimism and worry\u201d as the event winds down in Bangkok.<\/strong><\/p>\n Georgieva also said her organisation had a \u201cresponsibility\u201d to help low-income countries struggling with price shocks stemming from the Iran war.<\/p>\n Meetings in the Thai capital this week brought together finance ministers, central bank chiefs and other top officials from around the world.<\/p>\n \u201c(The meetings) were marked by both optimism and worry,\u201d said Georgieva, who was speaking at a press briefing alongside Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan.<\/p>\n \u201cOptimism from the resilience of the global economy, the promise of AI, the dynamism of Asia. But AI is also recognised to be a source of worry, and so are inflation, high levels of debt, wars, climate risks.\u201d<\/p>\n All week, the IMF has warned that high levels of debt and spiking bond yields are tightening financial conditions just as central banks need to focus on bringing inflation down, likely by increasing interest rates.<\/p>\n Global energy prices have spiked since late February, when the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran, with Tehran\u2019s retaliatory actions targeting Washington\u2019s Gulf allies and curtailing oil and gas supplies.<\/p>\n The price increases have rippled across the globe, fuelling inflation in economies across a range of income groups.<\/p>\n The most vulnerable to the shock, the IMF has said, are low-income oil-importing countries that are not exposed to the boom in AI investment that has propped up growth in many advanced economies.<\/p>\n \u201cI can tell you that people everywhere, but especially in poorer countries, they don\u2019t like inflation. Inflation is like a tax on the poor,\u201d said Georgieva.<\/p>\n She said such countries needed to set spending targets such that they prioritised growth and protecting the most vulnerable people, adding that the Fund had a \u201crelentless pursuit of more resources for low-income countries\u201d.<\/p>\n Higher global interest rates and bond yields, however, were driving up debt repayments for low-income countries, she said.<\/p>\n The share of debt repayments as a percentage of government revenue had gone up from eight to 14 percent for low-income countries in recent years, the IMF chief said.<\/p>\n She said her organisation had a responsibility to help countries to restructure debt if needed; to assist with domestic resource mobilisation; to bring in international finance; and to create conditions for private investment.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we do our best, it translates into better lives for people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n