'Is IMF's relocation from Washington to Beijing imminent?' asks Shashi Tharoor

Citing the positive growth numbers of China, Congress leader and MP from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said that International Monetary Fund's (IMF) headquarters could be shifted from the US to China as indicated by the current growth projection made by the global organisation after the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic.

"Is the IMF's relocation to Beijing imminent?" Tharoor posed the question on his Twitter handle.

"The International Monetary Fund's by-laws specify that its headquarters will be located in the world's largest economy. For 75 years this placed it in Washington, DC. With the way the US and Chinese economies are moving after #Covid-19, is the IMF's relocation to Beijing imminent?"

The Congress leader further said that China will be the only major economy to grow this year while the US would shrink by 4.3 per cent.

"The IMF itself says China will be the only major economy to grow this year. It predicts that China will expand 1.9 per cent in 2020, while the U.S. would shrink by 4.3 per cent. China's growth will accelerate to 8.4 per cent next year, says the IMF, compared to 3.1 per cent in the United States. Challenging!" he said in a tweet.