The managing director of the International Monetary Fund,

Kristalina Georgieva,

and the president of the European Central Bank,

Christine Lagarde

, have called in the closing debate of the Davos Forum for "realism" to governments, because even if the apocalypse, the risks have not disappeared.

"The economic situation is less bad than expected, but that doesn't mean it's good

," Georgieva told the World Economic Forum audience.

She has stated that the IMF will raise "some" its economic forecasts for world growth in the coming days and will improve the 2.7% forecast,

"but we are facing one of the lowest growth rates in a decade."

For Lagarde,

"there is some improvement", but inflation will continue to be high and there are new risks of rising prices

.

That is why he has asked European governments to "better focus their aid" in 2023 so as not to generate more inflation and thereby cause the ECB to have to raise interest rates more than expected.

"One of the things that have improved over expectations is that employment is holding up,

but if interest rates bite, there will be more unemployment

," stressed the IMF managing director.

Another of the reasons that she has given for the improvement in the situation is China's return to a new path of growth.

For his part, the former secretary of the US Treasury and considered a relevant Davos guru,

Lawrence Summers

, has warned that

"there are many countries with too much debt"

and that if the central banks fail to control inflation, "not only will the most vulnerable, but global stability".

The risk of the so-called fragmentation of globalization with new protectionism and trade wars have dominated part of the final Davos debate.

The French Minister of the Economy,

Bruno Le Maire

, has insisted on his criticism of Joe Biden's so-called Inflation Reduction Law, because it endangers the survival of European industry with its colossal subsidies.

He assures that he does not want a trade war, nor more European protectionism

, "but the EU must defend its interests."

Summers has defended Biden's plan:

"It is a healthy competition to achieve before decarbonization"

, but has conceded to Le Maire, that the US should not seek to depress Europe with it.

"Let's compete well without looking for the other's defeat."

The French minister has defended a shock in the EU with more subsidies and agility in their granting.

"Companies cannot wait three years to receive the subsidies that we promise them. We must reduce that to six months," he has proposed.

Georgieva recalled that a race for subsidies in the great powers "will harm emerging countries."

"Fragmentation will have a lot to do with how the situation evolves. If it doesn't happen, the cost of adjustment will be less, but if we are an elephant in a china shop and we mess up trade, the losses to the global economy

could reach $7 trillion." ,

has quantified the head of the IMF.

As if he were on another planet, the governor of the central bank of Japan,

Kuroda Haruhiko,

has vindicated his singular policy not to raise rates like the rest of the world monetary authorities.

"We will continue with our expansionary monetary policy to achieve our goal in a stable manner. The Japanese economy grew around 2% and in 2023, most likely another 2%," he stressed to the rest of the participants in this top-level debate.

And while they all debated in the convention center, in the snowy surroundings, activist

Greta Thunberg

and her supporters demonstrated against what she sees as the Davos Forum's complacency on fossil fuels."

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