IMF names AI as a driver of global economic growth this year ... “Asia to grow alongside”

[Financial News] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified investment in artificial intelligence (AI) as a key driver of global economic growth this year. The AI boom could have a positive impact not only on the United States, which leads in software, but also on Asian markets, which actually produce related components and devices.
According to Thai media outlets including the Bangkok Post, the IMF and World Bank (WB) began their annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, on the 12th. The meetings will continue through the 18th.
In a speech that day, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva referred to global gross domestic product (GDP) growth, saying, “Growth is being weighed down by energy supply shocks, but thanks to increased AI investment, it is possible to keep growth at around 3%.” She said that “the surge in AI investment is creating a powerful demand and investment shock,” and assessed that it “is boosting growth by 0.5–1 percentage point in advanced Asian economies and 0.2–0.8 percentage point in emerging Asian economies.” She also stressed, “AI is already here with us, whether we like it or not.”
Georgieva did not mention South Korea in her speech that day. In an announcement last month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) forecast South Korea’s real GDP growth this year at 3.7%, raising its estimate by 1.1 percentage points from three months earlier. At the time, the OECD said the spread of AI could provide an additional upside factor for the global economy through investment and production.
Last July, the IMF revised its forecast for South Korea’s GDP growth this year to 2.6%, up 0.7 percentage points from 1.9% last April. The IMF’s forecast for global real GDP growth this year, released at the time, was 3%. The IMF is scheduled to release revised economic forecasts on the global economy and countries including South Korea on the 13th.
Georgieva likened AI to “a slowly approaching tsunami” and predicted that it would have a huge impact on jobs, growth, education and tax revenue. She explained that, according to IMF analysis, AI could augment work, lower job levels or eliminate jobs altogether, affecting 40% of jobs worldwide over the long term.
[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter