Xinhua Agency, Washington, October 22 (Reporters Xiong Maoling and Hu Yousong) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the latest issue of the World Economic Outlook Report on the 22nd, maintaining its forecast for global economic growth in 2024 at 3.2%, which is the same as the July forecast. The IMF warned that deepening geopolitical rifts could affect long-term growth prospects for the global economy.

The IMF pointed out in its report that geopolitical tensions persist, the impact on global trade is limited for the time being, and the proportion of global trade volume in global gross domestic product (GDP) has not dropped sharply. However, signs of geo-economic division are beginning to emerge.

The report believes that if geopolitical tensions continue to deteriorate, a more divided global trade landscape may emerge. This may reduce the resilience of global supply chains, increase financing costs, disrupt cross-border capital flows, reduce market efficiency, slow the transfer of knowledge and technology between developed and developing economies, increase corporate costs and risks, and drive up green transformation costs.

In response to questions from a Xinhua Agency reporter at a media conference that day, IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Guranza said that the escalation of trade tensions may have two effects. On the one hand, increasing tariffs between countries will disrupt trade, lead to resource mismatches and drag down economic activity; on the other hand, uncertainty related to future trade policies will also increase, which will also inhibit investment, consumption and other economic activities.

The 2024 Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank will be held in Washington from October 21 to 26. IMF Managing Director Georgieva said in a recent opening speech at the annual meeting,"We are in a difficult geopolitical environment." She urged policymakers in various countries to "cool down" geopolitically and jointly solve the challenges faced by the global economy in areas such as trade, climate change, and artificial intelligence. She pointed out that countries should realize that a rules-based global trading system brings many benefits and is worth safeguarding.