IMF director stated that there's no huge deceleration in giving, and the Fed may do better

June 7, 2023: The International Monetary Fund has yet to see enough banks pulling back on providing that would cause the U.S. Federal Reserve to change course with its rate-hiking cycle.

“We don’t yet see a significant slowdown in lending. There is some, but not on the scale that would lead to the Fed stepping back,” the IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on Saturday.

The Federal Reserve, in a May banks report, warned that lenders are worried about conditions ahead, as trouble in mid-sized financial institutions in the U.S. caused banks to tighten lending standards for households and businesses.

The Fed’s loan officers added that they expect the issues to continue over the next year due to lowered growth forecasts, concerns over deposit outflows, and reduced tolerance for risk.

“I am enough that we are in an exceptionally uncertain environment. Therefore, pay attention to trends and be agile, adjusting should the trends change.”

The IMF’s report on the pace of a slowdown in global lending comes after its Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in April that banks are now situated in a “more precarious situation” that would pose a risk to the international organization’s world growth forecast of 2.8% for this year.

A majority of major international central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, have tightened their monetary policy aggressively to tame soaring inflation. Hence, the Institute of International Finance stated the world’s global debt has swelled to a near-record high of $305 trillion.

The IIF said in its May report that high debt levels and interest rates have led to further concerns about leverage in the financial system.