IMF chief welcomes new UK-EU Brexit deal

WASHINGTON, DC — International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday welcomed the new divorce deal the EU and Britain reached, stressing that details are yet to be seen.

Speaking to reporters at the start of the IMF annual meeting, she said: “I saw the news and jumped…This, of course is welcome.”
“Great! We would like to see the agreement being reached,” she said, referring to the news that Britain has reached a deal to leave the European Union.

Britain secured a Brexit deal with the European Union on Thursday to leave the bloc.

“Where there is a will there is a deal — we have one!” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a Tweet a few hours before the start of an EU summit in Brussels.

Welcoming the deal, Georgieva   said: “…my hope is that the will holds in all quarters. So let’s see whether that happens.”

Georgieva added that a no deal Brexit was likely to result in substantial harm to the economy of the UK and the EU alike.

The IMF warned in April that a no-deal Brexit would sacrifice between two and three years of normal economic growth for Britain’s economy between now and 2021. Even with Brexit without a deal, the UK economy would take a huge hit — growth that is 3.5 per cent less than it would be under a better Brexit.

“The increase in trade barriers has an immediate negative impact on UK foreign and domestic demand,” the IMF said.

The economy in the EU would also be affected, but not as much, as the IMF predicts a 0.5 per cent decrease in gross domestic product (GDP). The IMF said that in the worst-case scenario, a no-deal Brexit would heighten the damage to around 4 per cent of GDP by 2021.