Thread by @faisalislam

IMF chief @KGeorgieva says UK economy proved to be more resilient than expected after a difficult year with the pandemic and post Brexit adjustments… but inflation pressures will linger and “considerable” risks and uncertainties ahead

UK “has the fiscal space” should it be necessary to do more to support vulnerable people and business due to Omicron, IMF MD Georgieva says, and she “has no doubt” that Government will do so … says full lockdowns no longer needed, so nor would full lockdown supports

IMF MD Georgieva asked re impact of Brexit/ new trade deal on UK economy: “We have seen an impact on trade, trade with EU has dropped significantly, and we’d expect more impact ahead” as inward checks introduced next year…

IMF’s Georgieva says the overall full economic impact of Brexit process is “difficult to separate” from pandemic effects - for example migration effects. But energy price impact and microprocessors aren’t UK specific and would not assign meaningful role to Brexit

Not wildly helpful for the Bank of England to have IMF express concern about “inaction bias” at the Bank over inflationary pressures, two days before its decision…

imf.org/en/News/Articl…

interesting area, other critiques centring on inherent inertia of committee structure…

“What has been proven about Omicron is that it has been proven to be highly transmissible, with evidence it might not lead to a high health impact and more hospitalisations, but this is not yet clear” IMF chief told me, acknowledging variant econ impact difficult to quantify.