In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world economy finds itself on shaky ground, with inflation gripping many nations.
However, according to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, vaccinating large numbers of people can ensure that inflation is only temporary.
Georgieva said in an IMF blog that the coronavirus pandemic remains a looming threat to economic stability, with unequal access to vaccines leading to additional disparity.
“That’s why we need to reach the targets put forward by the IMF, with the World Bank, WHO and WTO—to vaccinate at least 40% of people in every country by end-2021, and 70% by mid-2022,” she said in the blog post.
With the pandemic dragging on, inflation has been on the rise in the U.S., with officials noting it is no longer “transitory,” and may linger well into 2022. The Wall Street Journal said that the Consumer Price Index rose 6.2% in October year-over year, with the core index up 4.6%, marking the largest increase in three decades. West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin took to Twitter to say the threat posed by inflation is escalating.
“From the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day,” Manchin said on social media.
Manchin may not be alone. Laura Rosner-Warburton, senior economist at MacroPolicy Perspectives, told The Wall Street Journal that inflation may get worse before it gets better.
“I do think we’re moving into a new phase where inflation is broader and where things are going to get a little more intense,” she told the publication. “Part of that reflects that [supply-chain] bottlenecks are not resolved going into the holiday season, when a lot of purchases get made, and that the economy is doing really well, so you have strong demand.”
While Manchin and Rosner-Warburton sound the alarm, Georgieva continues to say that vaccines can help ease inflationary pressures, telling devex.com that the cost of not providing vaccination assistance to lower income countries could exceed $5 trillion by 2026.
In response to Georgieva’s comments on vaccines and inflation, some opponents are saying that she has a credibility concern, citing a probe into her tenure at the World Bank, when she allegedly pressured staff to boost China’s position in the Doing Business report, according to the Globe Banner.
Amid these allegations, the investigations by the IMF and World Bank failed to uncover any wrongdoing, according to Bloomberg, with Georgieva pointing out the allegations have made staff question what the allegations could mean to the credibility of their work.