Trade deals to be reviewed from time-to-time: IMF Chief on NAFTA
The Dollar Business Bureau The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Christine Lagarde on Friday defended the ongoing negotiations of NAFTA, arguing that any trade agreement that is 20 years old requires to be reviewed and revised. “For a trade agreement, which has been in existence for, what, 20 years now, it is not unusual or unnecessary to actually look into it, go under the skin of the agreement, find out what works, what does not work, what can be improved, what new topics should be considered - given the changes that have affected the markets in the last two decades,” she told journalists at a news conference in Washington. Lagarde, who served as French commerce and industry minister, ...
IMF Chief impressed with GST and bankruptcy code reforms
The Dollar Business Bureau Christine Lagarde, the current IMF chief appreciated the GST policy, labelling it as an "act of courage" while admitting that she expected positive outcomes from the policy. Lagarde made the observations while speaking with reporters during the side-lines of the spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank. The Indian GST considered the biggest of its kind in the world would subsume many indirect taxes to arrive at a centralized taxation structure helping businesses as well as bring down end-product costs. GST is anticipated to add nearly 2% to India GDP by bringing informal economy into market-calculations as well as easing the burden of tax evasion. Lagarde averred that tax reforms such as GST are positive and that ...
Brexit impact hangs on policy makers next move: IMF
The Dollar Business Bureau International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Sunday said the fallout from Britain’s vote to exit the European Union (EU) hinges on what UK and EU policy makers do in coming days. Speaking at a session at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, the IMF chief said, “At this point in time, policy makers, both in the UK and in Europe, are holding that level of uncertainty in their hands. And how they come out in the next few days is going to really drive the direction in which risk will go.” After results from the referendum showed 51.9% of British voters had decided to leave the EU, the pound plunged, US treasuries surged and stocks tumbled across the ...
IMF implements quota reforms; India gets more voting rights
Source: PTI Marking a “historic” change at IMF, India, China and other emerging economies will now have more voting rights at the multilateral funding agency with the implementation of long pending quota reforms. For the first time, the four emerging economies – India China, Brazil and Russia – would be among the 10 largest members of the International Monetary Fund. Besides, more than 6% of quota shares would shift to dynamic emerging markets and developing countries. It would also mark the shift in shares from over-represented to under-represented IMF members. The much-awaited quota reforms, pending for many years, were approved by the US Congress in 2015. The 2010 Quota and Governance reforms were approved by the IMF's Board of Governors in ...
Expect bumpy Chinese economic transformation, says IMF chief
Source: PTI As China shifts to a new growth model, the International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has cautioned that this transformation of the world's second largest economy is expected to be bumpy and not a smooth ride. “There will be little bumps on the road because no transition can be made absolutely smooth without any disruption, without any volatility,” Lagarde told reporters. “I think we all need to get used to this little bumps on the road in that transition process, which as I said we welcome, together with the principles of more market determined exchange rate fluctuation, for instance, which we also believe is desirable and has been called for by many economic operators for many years, actually,” she said. ...
Global markets volatility a risk for emerging economies like India
The Dollar Business Bureau Emerging markets like India must prepare themselves for impacts from volatility in the global markets. If one follows the statements made by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) in the recent past as part of her visit to India, the IMF head pointed out to the fact that the Reserve Bank of India while cutting the interest rates twice in 2015, has cautioned about possible after effects of volatility from global markets which, could pose a significant risk to the Indian monetary system. A robust financial system backed by speedy reforms will help India take advantage of favourable balance of trade equations, lower inflation, liquidity in markets and a possible higher ...
