IMF chief says US inflation in ‘good place’, Fed ‘got it right’

THE US economy looks on track for a soft landing as monetary policy cooled inflation without tipping the economy into recession, according to the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who also credited the world’s biggest economy for helping support global growth as other nations slowed.

The Federal Reserve broadly “got it right” by holding interest rates at their highs before the half-point cut earlier this month, managing director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday (Sep 24).

“We are in a very good place,” she said in answering a question about US inflation. “The US has helped the world economy to stay afloat in this very difficult time.”

Georgieva, who is set to begin a second five-year term leading the global organisation on Oct 1, also credited emerging markets in Asia with helping to shore up expansion. The IMF sees the global economy growing 3.2 per cent this year, she reiterated, with the fund due to update its forecast in the World Economic Outlook next month during its annual meetings.

Georgieva is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and will head on Thursday to Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, with World Bank president Ajay Banga for an event focused on the future roles of the institutions. BLOOMBERG