Annual meeting of World Bank and IMF to start in Washington

Overshadowed by international crises, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are due to start their annual meeting on Monday in the US capital, Washington.

The meeting brings together finance ministers, representatives from the financial sector and development cooperation, as well as central bankers.

The discussions, set to run until Sunday, are expected to address, among other issues, a looming debt crisis in lower-income countries, climate change and poverty alleviation.

As part of the meeting, the IMF also plans on Tuesday to present a new forecast for future growth in the global economy.

IMF head Kristalina Georgieva said last week that the outlook for the world economy in the medium term is "lackluster - not sharply lower than pre-pandemic, but far from good enough."

Participants from Germany include Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel.