IMF warns investors to fasten their seat belts

CURTAIN-RAISER speeches for International Monetary Fund (IMF) events are not always headline-makers. However, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva used her speech on Wednesday (Oct 8), ahead of the 2025 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group next week, to warn investors to “buckle up” as “uncertainty is the new normal and it is here to stay”.

The context for her address at the Milken Institute was gold prices hitting US$4,000 an ounce for the first time, with holdings of monetary gold now exceeding one-fifth of the world’s official reserves.

While numerous stock markets are at or near record highs, this surge in gold prices highlights the degree of investor angst as geopolitical and wider market uncertainty – including from a weaker US dollar – bite.