Bangkok, 17 October. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, together with counterparts from France, Germany and several Scandinavian and Baltic countries, walked out of an International Monetary Fund meeting in Bangkok when Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov began addressing it (The Guardian).
The Bank of England confirmed Bailey took part; Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said nearly half of all delegates left the room (The Guardian). US Treasury Under Secretary Erin Browne told Reuters, as reported by The Guardian, that Washington supported Russia's presence despite European concerns (The Guardian). The chair of the IMF steering committee, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan, noted that all members had agreed to the chair's statement (The Guardian).
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, speaking on 16 October at the annual meetings of the fund and the World Bank, called for "urgent and practical international cooperation" amid risks linked to artificial intelligence, armed conflicts and rising debt (Kazinform). "The global economy has weathered the latest in a series of shocks better than expected, but buffers have been eroded," al-Jadaan's statement said (The Guardian).
Background: The IMF slightly raised its forecast for world economic growth in 2026 to 3.1%; among the main risks the fund names a possible end to the AI investment boom, rising public debt and the conflict in the Middle East, including Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Concessional lending to low-income countries has quadrupled compared with the period before the pandemic, according to Christian Mumssen, director of the fund's strategy department (Kazinform).
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