International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday the Fund would do more in 2016 to help its members meet economic growth objectives, including devoting more resources to protect vulnerable countries.
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Jim Yong Kim say “there are not many bright spots” in the global economy today.
“We contend that there has to be a lot more work and a lot more co-operation on a much broader basis in worldwide taxation”, Lagarde said. He said that lowering trade barriers had helped lift millions of people around the world out of poverty.
“This makes it harder to spread warmth to the citizens of the globe. emerging and developing countries need to watch declining commodity prices, high corporate debt, and volatile capital flows. and our concern is also the risk of spillovers, from advanced economies and emerging markets to the rest of the world”, she said. She noted that the International Monetary Fund has once again had to reduce its estimate for global growth, cutting the projection to 3.2 percent for this year, down from a 3.4 percent forecast made just three months ago.
Speaking yesterday at a news conference at the IMF’s headquarters during the spring meetings of the institution and the World Bank, Lagarde said taxation remained a local affair associated with national sovereignty.
Kim, asked about the leaked documents from a Panama law firm that have revealed details of offshore financial accounts, said such tax havens can have a devastating effect on global poverty.
“No single country can tackle global tax evasion alone”, Britain’s Treasury chief George Osborne told reporters Thursday. “What we need is worldwide action”.
Nonetheless, terms of trade developments have led to a narrowing of global imbalances, even as net creditor and debtor positions continue to expand, she said, adding that the global economy is expanding moderately but the outlook has weakened further since October and risks have increased.
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Kim also urged developed nations to open borders and embrace migrants from conflict zones and low-income countries. “And like all marriages, good talks can actually help”.
