Abdullah, IMF Managing Director review global economic landscape

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, met on Monday with Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on the sidelines of the World Government Summit 2025, which is being held in Dubai until 13th February under the theme “Shaping Future Governments.”

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed welcomed Kristalina Georgieva and discussed various topics related to cooperation between the UAE and the IMF, as well as the global economic landscape and ways to enhance international efforts to establish a sustainable global economic system.

The meeting also underscored the importance of adopting innovative solutions to address regional and global challenges, fostering global economic growth, and supporting sustainable development initiatives in communities.

The meeting was attended by Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic and Trade Affairs.

Meanwhile, the International Monterey Fund (IMF) has projected global growth to remain at 3.3 per cent this year and the next, before slowing to just above 3 per cent over the next five years, well below the historical average.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that growth in the Middle East and North Africa is expected to rebound to about 3.6 per cent in 2025, driven by a recovery in oil production and an easing of regional conflicts.

“Policymakers have generally succeeded in taming inflation, but not everywhere, with inflation picking up again in some countries. This could lead to a divergence in interest rates across countries and higher borrowing costs for emerging market and developing economies,” Georgieva said at the 9th Arab Fiscal Forum, part of the World Governments Summit 2025 preliminary day in Dubai.

She warned that global public debt is projected to hit 100 per cent of global GDP by 2030. “Many countries in this region face similar pressures, with debt levels exceeding 70 per cent of GDP. This poses the risk of them becoming trapped in a low-growth, high-debt scenario,” she added.

Georgieva highlighted the challenges faced by governments, including job creation, strengthening social safety nets, adapting to national security and reconstruction needs, building resilience to natural disasters and supporting economic diversification.

She also noted, “Digital innovation, with AI technologies, is expected to raise UAE’s GDP significantly by 2030. More R&D spending will further enhance productivity.” Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, noted the disparity in growth rates between emerging economies and middle-income countries, with some facing significant slowdowns due to financial and geopolitical pressures.

He emphasised the continued role of the IMF in providing financial and technical support to developing nations and strengthening structural reforms to stimulate sustainable growth.

Meanwhile, global stock markets rose on Monday, as traders appeared to shrug off US President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs announcement surrounding levies on steel and aluminium.

This was in contrast to a week ago when tariff announcements from Trump sent global equities tumbling.

The fact that stock markets are up this time around “could be a sign of tariff fatigue,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

Trump warned over the weekend that every country would face unspecified “reciprocal” levies.

Regarding steel and aluminium, the United States will move to impose tariffs as early as this week, Trump said.

Canada is the largest source of steel and aluminium imports to the United States, according to US trade data.

Brazil, Mexico and South Korea are also major steel providers to the country.

The dollar rose against the Canadian dollar, Mexican peso and South Korean won on Monday.

The European Union said it had not received any official notification of extra tariffs from the United States while Britain said it had not seen “any detailed proposals” but was “ready for all situations”.

In equities trading, London led gains in Europe in afternoon trading.

Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks rose Monday even as hopes of a delay to Trump’s tariffs against China were dashed.

Chinese tech firms extended gains, buoyed by the success of AI startup DeepSeek.

Investor sentiment was boosted by a “mixture of trade restrictions not being as bad as they might have been and hope for further Chinese stimulus”, said Derren Nathan, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Tokyo was flat, despite Trump’s threats to target Japanese goods should the US trade deficit with the country fail to equalise.

Wall Street’s main indices moved higher at the opening bell.

Losses of more than one per cent on Friday “presumably triggered the buy-the-dip crowd that is driving the action this morning”, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

“There seems to be a healthy allowance, too, for the expectation that the stock market will quickly bounce back from last week’s losses like it always has on its bull market jaunt to record highs,” he added.

Wall Street dropped Friday after official data showed US consumers increasingly worried about inflation and in reaction to news that fewer American jobs than expected had been created last month.

But the readings did little to alter traders’ view that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates two times at best this year.

In company news Monday, BP shares surged more than seven per cent in London, following reports that a prominent activist fund had built a significant stake, aiming to turnaround the struggling oil and gas major.

In Tokyo, Nippon Steel briefly fell more than two per cent, following a Trump announcement that the Japanese giant would make a major investment in US Steel, but will no longer attempt to take it over.

US Steel shares dived 5.8 per cent in New York on Friday, but rebounded four per cent on Monday as trading got underway.

WAM/ Agencies