Artificial intelligence investment is helping sustain global economic growth at around 3%, with Asian economies benefiting from surging demand for the hardware needed to build AI infrastructure, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday.
Speaking at the opening of the IMF and World Bank’s weeklong meetings in Bangkok, Georgieva said the AI investment boom was offsetting pressure from an energy supply shock weighing on the global economy.
The IMF estimated that the technology-driven investment surge could lift growth in advanced Asian economies by 0.5 to 1 percentage point and in emerging Asian economies by 0.2 to 0.8 percentage point. Thailand and other regional economies are benefiting from their role in supplying the components and infrastructure required for AI development.
The IMF forecast global growth of 3% in 2026 in July and is due to release an updated economic outlook on Tuesday.
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Around 18,000 participants, including finance officials from the IMF’s 191 member countries, are expected to attend this week’s meetings. Some officials, including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Spanish Finance Minister Arcadi España, are expected to skip the gathering to focus on domestic priorities, according to people familiar with the matter.
AI Could Reshape Jobs, Education and Government Revenue
Georgieva described AI as a slow-moving tsunami with far-reaching implications for employment, economic growth, education and public finances.
The IMF estimates that AI could eventually augment, downgrade or eliminate 40% of jobs, she said. Georgieva also cited an initial study indicating that 10% of jobs in the United States already required AI skills.
While demand for routine and repetitive work is declining, employment opportunities are growing in some lower-paying sectors, including construction and data centres.
The shift could also affect government tax revenues as economic activity moves away from labour and towards capital. This could force governments to reconsider how they collect revenue as businesses increasingly adopt AI-driven systems and automate tasks previously performed by workers.
The United States, China and India remain major players in AI production, while Asian economies are also benefiting from companies building the infrastructure needed to support the technology.
World Bank Pushes AI for Developing Economies
World Bank President Ajay Banga said the development institution was focusing on smaller-scale AI applications that do not depend on large language models. Such tools could improve productivity in agriculture, healthcare and education, particularly in emerging markets.
The approach reflects efforts to ensure that developing economies can use AI to address practical challenges without relying exclusively on expensive computing infrastructure or advanced systems.
However, the economic gains may not be distributed evenly. Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned that governments needed to respond quickly to declining demand for entry-level workers, particularly recent graduates seeking their first jobs.
He said AI could deepen the economic divide between advanced and developing countries if governments failed to act.
The challenge, he argued, was to use AI to create productive employment and preserve career pathways that allow workers to gain experience and progress professionally, even as technology changes the nature of work.
Growth Gains Could Come With a Wider Economic Divide
The growing importance of AI investment presents governments with a dual challenge: capturing productivity gains while limiting the disruption to employment and economic opportunity.
Asian economies supplying AI hardware and infrastructure stand to benefit from increased investment, but countries with weaker technological capacity risk falling behind. Within individual economies, workers entering the labour market could also face greater competition as employers automate tasks traditionally assigned to junior employees.
The IMF and World Bank meetings are taking place as policymakers weigh these opportunities against persistent economic pressures, including energy supply disruptions.
The extent to which AI supports sustained global growth will depend not only on investment but also on whether governments can equip workers with relevant skills, support developing economies and ensure that productivity gains translate into broader employment opportunities.
With information from Reuters.
