IMF chief Georgieva sees fiscal risks, need for central banks to be careful on rate cuts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Governments around the world need to rebuild fiscal capacity and central banks should think carefully about the timing of interest rate cuts, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday.

“In the short term, a focus on the fiscal side as an immediate priority. Fiscal buffers have been exhausted, yet fiscal pressures are high,” Georgieva said in a press conference during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington.

Central banks need to “remain attentive, be evidence-based (and) carefully monitor data to make sure that they don’t cut either too early or too late,” she added.