Korea Urges Inclusive Growth and Wider AI Gains at IMF Meeting
Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il told the IMF’s policy-setting committee that narrowing gaps in housing, jobs and financial services is essential to sustainable growth, while backing global cooperation on AI and debt challenges.
South Korea’s finance minister has called for growth policies that reduce inequality while supporting artificial intelligence adoption, using a major international economic meeting to outline Seoul’s approach to a fragile global recovery.
Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il delivered the message at a meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee in Bangkok on Saturday. The committee advises the International Monetary Fund on the direction of the international monetary and financial system. Lee attended as a committee member during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group.
Lee said addressing disparities is central to sustainable expansion. He highlighted government efforts to narrow gaps in housing, employment and access to financial services, particularly for vulnerable groups. He also supported the IMF’s recommendation that countries preserve fiscal soundness while strengthening the private sector’s capacity to generate growth.
The discussion came as the IMF assessed the global economy as gradually recovering but still exposed to elevated uncertainty and downside risks. The fund urged governments to maintain macroeconomic and financial stability, pursue structural reforms that help economies adopt AI and accelerate digital transformation, and coordinate internationally on global imbalances and debt pressures facing low-income countries.
AI was also a focus of Lee’s separate meetings with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and First Deputy Managing Director Dan Katz. Lee briefed the officials on Korea’s policies for sustainable growth and its measures to reduce economic disparities.
Georgieva said Korea’s current policy mix — mildly restrictive monetary policy combined with a neutral fiscal stance — was appropriate. The IMF recently lifted its 2026 growth forecast for Korea by 0.7 percentage point from its July estimate to 3.3 percent. Strong tax revenue associated with the semiconductor industry is expected to help finance a Future Fund scheduled to launch next year, which Georgieva said could provide a buffer against shifts in economic conditions.
Lee and Georgieva also signed a letter of intent to continue cooperation on an AI Hub initiative. The project is designed to bring international organizations and multilateral development banks together to apply AI to complex global challenges.
Lee said the IMF’s participation could help narrow technology gaps between countries. He added that Korea intends to keep supporting efforts to strengthen digital capabilities in vulnerable economies, linking the country’s domestic emphasis on inclusive growth with a broader push to make the benefits of new technology more widely shared.