WASHINGTON, Jan 12 ― Inflation in the United States is expected to decline in the second quarter of this year, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said yesterday.

“This is subject to dealing with supply chain constraints, and what we are seeing are some promising signs that some progress is being made in that regard,” Georgieva said in an interview with CNBC.

The US Consumer Price Index surged 7.0 per cent in the 12 months through December, the biggest year-on-year increase since June 1982, the Labour Department reported yesterday.

On China, Georgieva said policies to support the economy had been pulled out “perhaps a bit prematurely.”

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She said consumption in China has not picked up the way it should to compensate for the disruptions in the economy due to Covid-19.

On the positive side, Georgieva said, China has the “fiscal space” to boost its economy to get to 5per cent growth.

“The People's Bank of China actually did take some steps in that direction and I would expect that with the picture being what it is, there will be more to come,” she said. ― Reuters

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