China needs reforms to halt ‘significant’ growth declines, IMF chief warns

CHINA needs structural reforms in order to avoid “a fairly significant decline in growth rates”, International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva told CNBC in an interview on Monday (Jan 15).

In the short term, China’s property sector still needs “fixing”, along with a high level of local government debt, Georgieva said, speaking to CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Ultimately, what China needs are structural reforms to continue to open up the economy, to balance the growth model more toward domestic consumption, meaning create more confidence in people, so don’t save, they spend more,” CNBC quoted Georgieva as saying. REUTERS