IMF chief hopes for US-China rare earths deal to avoid 'material impact' on global economy

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday she was hoping for an agreement between the U.S. and China that avoids a cutoff in the flow of rare earths to the global economy, adding that such restrictions would have a "material impact" on growth.

Georgieva told a press conference during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington that such a scenario would exacerbate uncertainty and hurt an already weakened global growth picture.

"There is also still a sense of anxiety, because the performance of the world economy is less than we need it to be, and because there is a very dark cloud of uncertainty still holding lower our heads, and that uncertainty has become now the new normal."