Koo Yun-cheol, deputy prime minister for the economy and minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said on the 17th (local time) that countries should pursue sustainable growth by restoring fiscal soundness and boosting productivity.
Deputy Prime Minister Koo attended the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) in Washington, D.C., as a representative of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) executive board member country. The IMFC is an advisory body to the IMF Annual Meetings.
There, Deputy Prime Minister Koo exchanged views with finance ministers and Central Bank governors from major countries on the IMF's policy direction and responses to recent challenges to the global economy.
The IMF assessed that global low growth, high debt, and geopolitical uncertainty are deepening. It added that each country should pursue sustainable growth by restoring fiscal soundness and boosting productivity. It further presented a Global Policy Agenda (GPA) to strengthen tailored policy advice and financial support for members' macroeconomic and financial stability.
Deputy Prime Minister Koo highly evaluated the IMF's policy direction. He also emphasized that the most important factor in overcoming the crisis of low growth and high debt is each country's self-help efforts. He then introduced Korea's ongoing strategies of the "AI great transition" and the "ultra-innovation economy" as model cases of efforts, stressed by the IMF, to raise the potential growth rate led by the private sector.
On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Koo met with World Bank (WB) President Ajay Banga. Koo and Banga agreed that the proper use of AI could be a means to significantly improve the productivity and quality of life in developing countries.
They also agreed to expand cooperation between Korea and the WB in related fields. At this Annual Meetings, the signing of the administrative agreement for a digital trust fund funded solely by Korea's grants was completed. The Ministry of Economy and Finance said, "It will serve as a useful channel for full-fledged AI collaboration between the two institutions." Deputy Prime Minister Koo also asked for the president's attention to hiring Koreans and increasing the share of senior positions to ensure close cooperation with the World Bank.
Afterward, Deputy Prime Minister Koo met with James Longsdon, global head of sovereign ratings at the international credit rating agency Fitch. At the meeting, Koo shared the core policies our government is pursuing to secure growth competitiveness and the plans for active fiscal investment in them.
Koo explained that these efforts could contribute to raising Korea's economic growth rate and to the medium- to long-term fiscal sustainability. Fitch reportedly showed high interest in the economic outlook and fiscal stance during Koo's briefing.
Koo also met with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Koo explained Korea's growth strategy to realize the AI great transition and the ultra-innovation economy. He said Korea is pursuing productivity innovation by strengthening AI education for all people, expanding data accumulation, and developing language models applicable to various fields, including bio.
Managing Director Georgieva gave a positive assessment that the new government's economic and fiscal policy direction is in line with the International Monetary Fund's recommendations.