The School of Economics in the UJ College of Business and Economics (CBE) hosted the launch of the World Economic Outlook entitled: Seeking Sustainable Growth: Short-Term Recovery, Long-Term Challenges, presented by Dr Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti: Deputy Director Research, International Monetary Fund USA.

Milesi-Ferretti was speaking on the IMF’s World Economic Outlook October 2017 report, on Monday, 20 November 2017 at Resolution Circle, Johannesburg.

The presentation discussed recent global economic developments and their drivers, and the latest IMF growth forecasts for the global economy and for the main countries and regions.

The IMF has recently revised down South Africa’s growth outlook from 1% to 0.7% on the back of political uncertainty. The IMF projects SA’s growth for 2018 at 1.1%.

A key takeaway from the presentation was that emerging markets and developing economies dependent on commodity exports would face weaker economic prospects than more diversified economies. According to Dr Milesi-Ferretti, ”In sub- Saharan Africa as a whole, there has been an improvement from previous years but growth levels still look extremely disappointing. That is why we say the global economy is falling short despite the upward revisions and despite the increase of growth rates.”

Also on the panel was Prof Chris Landsberg ( SARChI Chair of African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy,UJ) and Prof Nicholas Ngepah (Associate Professor of Economics, UJ) who both expressed their views on the IMF report and the potential implications on SA and the continent as a whole.

About Dr Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti

Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti is Deputy Director in the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund, and has held this position since 2014. He supervises the department’s work on multilateral surveillance, including the World Economic Outlook and G-20 reports. He was previously a Deputy Director in the Western Hemisphere Department and IMF mission chief to the United States.