Hunt to attend IMF meeting in Morocco after next year’s forecast downgraded

The Chancellor will attend the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Morocco against the backdrop of the UK’s economic growth forecast for next year being downgraded by the finance body.

Mr Hunt said he intends to discuss the global fight against inflation and putting the UK “back on the path to growth” when finance ministers from across the globe meet in Marrakech on Thursday and Friday.

The UK’s representation at last year’s annual IMF meeting in Washington was left diminished after then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng left early amid a growing crisis in the wake of the so-called mini budget under Liz Truss’s premiership – only for him to be sacked on arrival in the UK.

Mr Hunt is expected to emphasise the UK’s commitment to fiscal responsibility when he attends this year’s IMF and World Bank annual meetings ahead of his autumn statement next month.

Morocco will host the events despite being hit by a devastating earthquake on September 8, which struck close to Marrakech, and which reportedly killed more than 3,000 people and has affected millions of others.

Mr Hunt said: “I’m in Marrakech to discuss the global fight against inflation, and how we are putting Britain back on the path to growth.

“It is because of our solid economic foundation at home that we can support our friends around the world.

“I am full of admiration for the Moroccan people’s resilience following the terrible earthquake in September, and want to reiterate Britain’s backing to support the victims.”

The world’s finance ministers meet as bosses at the IMF said the global economy is “limping along” amid pressure from persistent inflation and higher borrowing costs in its latest economic outlook.

The finance body has marginally upgraded its growth forecast for UK gross domestic product (GDP) this year to 0.5%, from 0.4%.

But it downgraded its forecasts for the UK’s economic growth next year.

It had previously pointed towards 1% growth for 2024, but on Tuesday reduced this forecast to 0.6% amid pressure from higher interest rates, which represents the lowest predicted growth rate across the G7.

The latest forecast appeared to prompt a dispute between the Government and the IMF over whether the latest data had been used.

Government sources suggested the IMF had not taken account of the latest interest rates expectations and, and pointed to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) having upgrades its assessment of the UK’s post-pandemic recovery, according to the BBC.

But IMF chief economist Pierre Olivier Gourinchas told the broadcaster the forecast had factored in interest rates peaking last month, and that a “preliminary read” of the ONS’s revised data had led him to conclude that there would “probably” be “not much” of an impact on the current assessment.

Minister for development and Africa Andrew Mitchell, and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, are also due to attend the annual meetings.

The gathering is the first time the IMF and World Bank annual meetings have been held in Africa since 1973.