Opinion: What’s Behind the IMF’s About-Face on China’s GDP Forecasts?

In a surprising about-face, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its China growth outlook for this year and next to 5.4% and 4.6%, respectively, according to a statement earlier this month. Both represented an upward revision of 0.4 percentage points compared to its October projections.

The move raised eyebrows as the organization had just cut its forecasts last month, when it trimmed estimates for 2023 and 2024 growth to 5% and 4.2%, respectively.