IMF calls for country-specific exits from stimulus, pledges to speed up reform

by Xinhua writers Wang Yongkang, Wang Xiangjiang, Ran Wei

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund's policy-steering body, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) Saturday called for the implementation of country-specific exits from stimulus, and pledged to deliver on the long-expected quota and governance reform.

International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Egyptian Minister of Finance and Insurance Youssef Boutros Ghali (L-R) give a press conference after the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) meeting in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, April 24, 2010. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

COUNTRY-SPECIFIC EXITS FROM STIMULUS

"The worst is definitely behind us. But, we are not out of the woods yet. We see a strengthening of economic recovery, but we also see an unevenness in this recovery, unevenness within countries, and unevenness between countries," Youssef Boutros- Ghali, IMFC chairman and Egyptian Minister of Finance, said at a press conference after a meeting of the committee in Washington.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn echoed his view on the same occasion, saying that recovery has been faster in Asia and more sluggish in other parts of the world such as Europe and Japan.

"We will continue to work to phase in country-specific exits from stimulus, recognizing the diverse pace of recovery and potential spillovers across countries and regions," the committee said in a communiqu issued after its meeting, which is part of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings.

The communiqu echoed a Friday statement of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, who said stimulus measures should be maintained in economies where growth is still highly dependent on policy support until the recovery is firmly driven by the private sector and becomes more entrenched.