I have always worked twice as hard as men to be equal, IMF chief says

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told CNBC she has ever worked "twice arsenic hard" to beryllium adjacent to her antheral colleagues.

"I don't privation my girl and my granddaughter to person to enactment harder than men to beryllium equal," she told CNBC's Tania Bryer successful an interrogation broadcast Wednesday.

"I privation them to beryllium adjacent conscionable due to the fact that they are. This is what I privation the communicative of my beingness to be."

Georgieva was appointed arsenic managing manager of the IMF successful 2019 and is the 2nd pistillate to clasp the role. While the "tide has turned" connected women's roles, determination has been a "step back" successful sex equality successful caller years, the IMF main said.

"The pandemic, past the war, past the cost-of-living crisis – they wounded everyone but they person been hurting women the most," Georgieva said.

Issues that clasp women backmost are "macro-critical" Georgieva added. For example, planetary GDP would beryllium astir 20% higher if sex employment gaps were closed, according to World Bank data.

Countries successful the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia regions could spot their GDPs summation by arsenic overmuch arsenic 80% if women were capable to afloat enactment successful the labour market, according to the research.

"This is the large and wide connection we are sending from the IMF — bring women guardant for their sake, but for the involvement of everyone," Georgieva said.

"We person present assessed that it would instrumentality 130 years with the existent velocity to bring sex equality. I don't deliberation we tin spend that time. We request a vibrant economy, a vibrant society. Therefore we request women to beryllium adjacent to men, everywhere," she said.