The head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieve, noted that although the global economic slowdown is expected to continue this year, Asia will remain a “bright spot.”

She went on to predict that half of global growth would come from India and China alone, with “some momentum” supplied by emerging economies.

The global economy will grow less than 3% in 2023, according to the IMF Chief, which is roughly in line with the IMFs estimate in January of 2.9%. She said she expected the general pattern would remain over the next five years.

The projections, she noted, represent the IMF’s “lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990, and [are] well below the average of 3.8% from the past two decades.”

In addition, the IMF is predicting that 90% of advanced economies will see their growth rates decline in 2023.

She pointed out that low-income nations are hampered by poor demand for their exports, which will maintain their per-capita income growth below that of the emerging economies.

The IMF is also predicting that poverty and hunger, which increased measurably during the pandemic period, are poised to grow further.

Her comments were made ahead of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank this week, where all of these issues are sure to be topics of discussion among policymakers.