Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Resilient, but just: On the IMF’s economic outlook and lopsided growth

Resilient, but just: On the IMF’s economic outlook and lopsided growth

Lopsided (असंतुलित, एकतरफ़ा) growth that bypasses poor nations risks weighing down the global economic edifice

The International Monetary Fund’s latest update to its world economic outlook posits a global economy showing signs of having weathered its most recent challenges, including the bank collapses in the U.S. and Switzerland, and likely poised to expand by 3% in 2023. But the Fund’s marginal 20 basis points upgrade to its April projections, which were released in the wake (जागना) of the banking failures, and concerns at the time about the then yet-to-be-resolved U.S. debt ceiling (उच्चतम सीमा) standoff, does little to provide reassurance that the world economy is out of the woods. As the IMF’s chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas cautioned on Tuesday, “many challenges still cloud the horizon... while some adverse risks have moderated, the balance remains tilted to the downside”. That risks abound, both known and unsighted, would be an understatement. For starters, the two largest economies, the United States and China, have slowed down appreciably (प्रशंसनीय) and face increased uncertainty amid global and domestic headwinds. In the U.S., the surpluses (अतिरिक्त मात्रा) from pandemic-era cash transfers, made to help families tide over the distress(संकट, कठिनाई) wrought (बनाया हुआ) by COVID-19 and the cost-of-living crisis in its aftermath, have all but depleted. China’s post-reopening rebound has begun to fizzle out, with the economy floundering (लड़खड़ाना) on the shoals of a contraction in the key real estate sector, combined with weakening consumption and slumping (मंदी, गिरावट) overseas demand for its exports.

The euro area, another key engine of the global economy, is still reeling from the Ukraine-war induced spike in gas prices with momentum decelerating especially in the largest regional economies of Germany and France. Eurozone business output fell at the fastest rate for eight months in July, S&P Global’s latest HCOB flash PMI survey showed this week. Worse, deteriorating forward-looking indicators flag the likelihood of the region’s downturn deepening in coming months. And with inflation, particularly core inflation, remaining well above central banks’ targets, policymakers may be left with little option but to stay the course on inflation-taming but demand-retarding monetary tightening. Russia’s termination of the Black Sea grain deal could also push up grain prices by as much as 15%, Mr. Gourinchas warned, affecting some low-income economies in Africa. The IMF economist also pointed to the heightened debt vulnerabilities among many frontier economies and stressed the urgent need for a concerted global debt resolution initiative to help highly indebted countries from sliding into debt distress. Ultimately, the world’s economic leaders must realise that lopsided growth, that bypasses the vulnerable nations, risks having the weakest links weighing down the larger global economic edifice in an interconnected world.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Resilient (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - लचीला
English Meaning - Strong enough to deal with illness, a shock, change, etc.

2.Lopsided (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - असंतुलित, एकतरफ़ा
English Meaning - With one side lower or smaller than the other.

3.Slump (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - मंदी, गिरावट
English Meaning - To fall suddenly in price, amount, or value.

4.Flounder (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - लड़खड़ाना
English Meaning - To experience great difficulties or be completely unable to decide what to do or say next.

5.Wake (Verb)

Hindi Meaning - जागना
English Meaning - To cause someone to become awake and conscious after sleeping.

6.Ceiling (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - उच्चतम सीमा
English Meaning - Top limit.

7.Appreciable (Adjective)

Hindi Meaning - प्रशंसनीय
English Meaning - Distinctly discernible by the senses or definitely measurable.

8.Surplus (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - अतिरिक्त मात्रा
English Meaning - An amount that is extra or more than you need.

9.Distress (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - संकट, कठिनाई
English Meaning - The state of being very upset or of suffering great pain or difficulty.

10.Wrought (Noun)

Hindi Meaning - बनाया हुआ
English Meaning - Made or done in a careful or decorative way.