International Monetary Fund

July 11, 2025 12:04 PM

UPI impact: India now makes faster payments than any other country, says IMF

India now leads the world in faster payments, thanks to the widespread adoption of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), according to a recent note from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since its launch in 2016, UPI has witnessed exponential growth, while several indicators of cash usage have shown a declining trend. UPI now processes over 18 billion transactions per month, dominating the electronic retail payments ecosystem in India, the IMF noted in its paper titled “Growing Retail Di...

April 26, 2025 6:27 PM

India lifts 171 million out of extreme poverty in a decade: World Bank

In one of the most remarkable achievements of the past decade, India has lifted 171 million people out of extreme poverty, according to the World Bank’s Spring 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief. The report highlights that the proportion of Indians living on less than 2.15 US dollars a day—the international benchmark for extreme poverty—fell sharply from 16.2 percent in 2011-12 to just 2.3 percent in 2022-23, according to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. This achievement stands ...

April 23, 2025 11:16 AM

IMF slashes global outlook as White House says trade talks pick up pace

Worldwide economic output will slow in the months ahead as U.S. President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on virtually all trading partners begin to bite, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, as global finance chiefs swarmed Washington seeking deals with Trump's team to lower the levies. Indeed, the pace of negotiations was brisk, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, with 18 different countries offering proposals so far and Trump's trade negotiating team set to meet with ...

March 26, 2025 3:36 PM

IMF reaches staff-level agreement with Pakistan for $1.3 billion climate loan package

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has finalized a staff-level agreement with Pakistan for a $1.3 billion loan package over 28 months to support the country’s climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. This agreement also includes the first review of the ongoing $7 billion bailout program, with the IMF commending Pakistan’s progress in restoring macroeconomic stability despite global challenges. Government sources from Pakistan’s finance department report steady inflation progre...

March 26, 2025 10:52 AM

India’s GDP doubles to USD 4.2 trillion over the last decade: IMF

India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has doubled in size over the last ten years, according to the latest data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The data revealed that India’s GDP at current prices stood at USD 2.1 trillion in 2015 and is projected to reach USD 4.27 trillion by the end of 2025, marking a 100 per cent increase within a decade. The IMF further reported that India’s real GDP growth rate for the current year is 6.5 per cent, indicating strong and stable econ...

February 16, 2025 4:01 PM

Russia’s Siluanov visits Saudi Arabia ahead of Russia-US talks

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday ahead talks between Russia and the United States in the Kingdom scheduled for next week. Siluanov was speaking at an event called AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, organised by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and the International Monetary Fund. U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to start talks aimed at ending the nearly three-year war in Ukraine, a U.S. lawmaker and a so...

June 26, 2024 4:35 PM

Kenyan protesters promise more rallies after deadly parliament violence

Kenyan protesters vowed on Wednesday to keep up their demonstrations against new tax hikes, a day after police opened fire on crowds trying to storm parliament, leaving at least eight people dead and scores wounded. As heavily armed officers patrolled the streets of the capital Nairobi, supporters of the week-old protest movement took to X, using the hashtag #tutanethursday, or "see you on Thursday" in a mix of Swahili and English. An online outpouring of anger over tax increases has swelled i...

May 14, 2024 3:54 PM

Asia to contribute 60% of global growth in 2024: IMF official

Asia continues to power ahead as the engine of the global economy, with the region expected to contribute a massive 60% to world growth in 2024, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official stated on Monday. Speaking at the 13th IMF-Japan High-Level Tax Conference for Asian Countries in Tokyo, IMF Deputy Managing Director Okamura highlighted Asia's lead role in driving global economic recovery post-pandemic citing the IMF's latest World Economic Outlook projections. The global economy h...

April 30, 2024 12:08 PM

IMF bailout proved important to save Pakistan from default, PM Sharif says

The disbursement of $1.1 billion by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will help Pakistan achieve greater economic stability, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday, amid discussions for a new loan programme. The funding was the second and final tranche of Pakistan's $3 billion standby arrangement with the IMF which it secured last summer to help avert a sovereign default. "The disbursement will bring more economic stability in Pakistan," Sharif said in a statement from his office, a...