NEW DELHI: India and China will turn out to be the backbone of the world economy said Kristalina Georgieva, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director. She said albeit the presaged slowdown in economic activity during 2023, India and China will move past unfettered.

“The period of slower economic activity will be prolonged, with the next five years witnessing less than 3 per cent growth, our lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990, and well below the average of 3.8 per cent from the past two decades," the IMF chief said on Thursday.

"Some momentum comes from emerging economies —Asia especially is a bright spot. India and China are expected to account for half of the global growth in 2023. But others face a steeper climb," she added.

Talks also addressed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kristalina Georgieva said the Russian move has stalled the economic activity of the world in jeopardy. It will a herculean battle for low-index GDP countries to remain afloat in the economic activity in the coming months.

Georgieva’s remarks come ahead of the next week’s meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.