IMF’s Georgieva urges countries to keep trade as engine of growth

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday urged member countries to keep trade as an engine of growth for the world economy despite President Donald Trump’s steep new tariffs.

Georgieva told a news briefing during IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington that countries with large external surpluses like China need to rely more on domestic consumption than exports, while countries with big fiscal deficits, like the United States, need to reduce them.

(Reporting by David Lawder and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Toby Chopra)