The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, said on Monday that heavy spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure is helping hold up global growth near 3%. She warned, however, that the same technology could seriously disrupt labour markets, tax systems and education. Her remarks came in Bangkok on the first day of a week of IMF and World Bank meetings.
Georgieva said the AI investment boom was already producing a demand shock and an investment shock. She estimated that this could raise growth in advanced Asian economies by between half a percentage point and a full point, and in emerging Asian economies by 0.2 to 0.8 percentage points. She added that the faster pace of AI spending was offsetting a drag from an energy supply shock. The IMF had forecast global growth of 3% for 2026 in July and is due to publish an updated outlook on Tuesday.
Job losses and tax revenue face pressure from AI
Georgieva said IMF research suggests about 40% of jobs will be augmented, downgraded or eliminated by AI. In advanced economies, she said, that share could reach 60%. She argued that this would have far-reaching effects on employment, growth and education, and could also change how governments raise revenue, because income would move from wages toward capital.
An early study cited by Georgieva found that 10% of US jobs already required AI skills. Routine, repetitive roles are shrinking, while low-paying work is growing in two sectors at the lower end of the pay scale: construction and data centres. She also described her own daily routine, saying an AI assistant now delivers a short briefing on her schedule each morning, and called the technology transformative in how people work and live.
Asian policymakers weigh AI supply chains and graduate hiring
Georgieva noted that the United States, China and India are the most important producers in the AI supply chain. Many of the companies supplying hardware for the infrastructure, however, are based in Asia. She pointed to Thailand, which is hosting this year’s annual meetings.
Singapore’s President, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who also spoke at the event, said governments need to act on how AI is reducing opportunities for graduates. He said the first job after graduation is becoming harder to find, and called this a problem that must be tackled quickly. He also warned that AI could widen the gap in growth and job creation between developing and advanced economies if countries are passive. He argued that AI should be used to create good jobs and roles that let workers climb a career ladder.
World Bank President Ajay Banga, who has made jobs a central priority of his tenure, told reporters he was not convinced that entry-level jobs would be wiped out by AI. He said most of the disruption would hit advanced economies that are building large AI models. Emerging markets, he said, are not focused on such models. Instead, the World Bank is backing what he called small AI, which needs far less computing power and can still deliver productivity gains for farmers, health clinics and teachers.
Several finance ministers skip Bangkok meetings
About 18,000 people are expected to attend the gathering this week, including finance officials from the IMF’s 191 members. Several finance ministers, however, will not travel because they are focusing on domestic priorities. They include US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Spanish Finance Minister Arcadi España. The finance ministers of Canada, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo will also be absent, according to a source familiar with the plans. The Democratic Republic of Congo is struggling to contain an Ebola outbreak that the source said has killed at least 4,000 people.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, who chairs the IMF’s steering committee, still plans to attend. This is despite an operations halt at Riyadh airport after deadly attacks at the weekend by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, two sources said.
