Speaking to the press prior to the World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings, Lagarde on Thursday warned policymakers around the world that “no country can go alone and worldwide cooperation is more needed than ever”, Xinhua news agency reported.
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The global economy is now growing at a rate of 3.1%, down from 3.4% in 2014.
“This is an enormous change which is difficult to absorb, difficult to manage, difficult to communicate”, she said.
The Washington-based lender, in a report released its annual meetings being held in Peru, said that the rate of economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean was set to decline for the fifth consecutive year before rebounding in 2016.
A stronger United States economy and lower commodity prices should help manufacturers in Mexico, Central America and the oil-importing countries of the Caribbean.
Among the other themes of her speech were energy prices and the impacts of climate change, a factor she said “must be integrated into the macroeconomic frameworks of all countries”.
The global Monetary Fund (IMF) has for the third time this year revised its growth forecast for Jordan’s economy, expecting it to grow by 2.9 per cent in 2015. Despite this, the economic collapse will not have the same effect on all the countries.
With the latest sharp fall in commodity prices, most countries will have to cut expenditures, in a few cases by large amounts. “But it’s particularly the case at the moment because many have already used their fiscal buffers … and are always in need of a few fiscal buffers in order to fight the next crisis”. While we remain confident about ending extreme poverty, the final stretch will be extremely hard because we are in the midst of a period of slow growth, the end of the commodity super cycle, pending interest rate hikes and the continued flight of capital out of emerging markets. The International Monetary Fund said uncertainty and financial market volatility have increased and medium-term growth prospects weakened. The global financial regulatory reform agenda should be completed and implemented in a timely and consistent manner and further developed, including through monitoring and addressing issues raised by financial activities outside the banking system.
“Closing the gender gap can raise incomes by 27 percent in the Middle East and North Africa, 19 percent in South Asia, and 14 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean”, 55-year old Kim said in his plenary address on “The lessons of Carabayllo: Making tough choices”. The youth unemployment gap can be bridged through education inclusion.
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Deputy managing director of the worldwide Monetary Fund, Zhu Min, who is also in Lima for the meetings, says structural reforms are key if emerging markets hope to maintain sustainable growth.
