GENEVA – On the final day of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) "Davos Agenda 2022" virtual event, the leaders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) reviewed the global economy's future and called for immediate policy changes to ensure a fair recovery.

Several heads of state and government, cabinet ministers, ambassadors, heads or senior officials of international organisations, chief executive officers, and other leaders reflected on the WEF's theme-setting Agenda on the "State of the World" and discussed the critical challenges facing the world today during the week-long dialogue that began on January 17.

"The reaction to the pandemic crisis has been anything but orthodox," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in the "Global Economic Outlook" session on Friday. The world's central banks and financial authorities have worked together to save the globe from plunging into another big depression." "We need to be data-driven as well as adaptable." "If I had to make a New Year's goal for policymakers, it would be policy flexibility," she said.

"On the bright side," Georgieva said, "we expect the recovery to continue." However, it is losing steam, and it is dealing with a resurgence of illnesses, as well as far higher-than-expected inflation and, above all, record-high global debt levels of USD 226 trillion.

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