WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Kristalina Georgieva, International Monetary Fund Managing director said Wednesday that China must use fiscal space in order to boost consumption given its economic slowdown triggered by the renewed COVID-19 lockdowns.

Georgieva stated that China has ample fiscal and monetary policy room to combat this. However, it is better to encourage consumption.

Georgieva said that China’s consumption is declining and is not recovering as strong as it should. Georgieva spoke at a news conference during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Instead of moving money into public investment, put it in the pockets and people to generate more dynamism.