IMF Says AI Investment Is Keeping Global Growth Near 3%

Strong investment in AI infrastructure is keeping global growth at around 3%, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, Reuters reports. She said the AI investment boom could boost growth in advanced Asian economies by half a percentage point to one full point, and in emerging Asian economies by 0.2 to 0.8 percentage point, but also foreshadows a "slow-moving tsunami" for labor markets, taxation and education.

Georgieva said IMF research shows some 40% of jobs will be augmented, downgraded or eliminated by AI, and as many as 60% in advanced economies, with consequences for how governments raise tax revenue given an expected shift from labor to capital. The IMF forecast 3% global growth for 2026 in July and is due to publish an updated outlook.

Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said governments should address how AI is reducing demand for graduates' first jobs and warned that AI could widen a "new divergence" between developing and advanced economies. World Bank President Ajay Banga said he was not convinced entry level jobs would be destroyed by AI and expected much of the disruption in advanced economies building large models, with the World Bank focused on "small AI" for farmers, health clinics and teachers.