By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Christine Lagarge, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday said global recovery is still too slow and fragile as it approved $21.7 billion financing this year.
Lagarde made this disclosure in her foreword to the institution’s Annual Report 2014—From Stabilisation to Sustainable Growth, published today in Washington D.C.
‘’Seven years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the world still has a way to go to secure a sustainable recovery marked by strong growth that supports rapid job creation and benefits all,’’ Lagarde said.
The IMF chief affirmed that the recovery is ongoing, but it is still too slow and fragile, subject to the vagaries of financial sentiment. ‘’Millions of people are still looking for work. The level of uncertainty might be diminishing, but it is certainly not disappearing. Throughout the crisis and in the recovery period, the IMF has been, and continues to be, an indispensible agent of economic cooperation for its membership,’’ she said.
According to Lagarde a breakdown of this year’s financing shows that the Fund’s board approved $21.5 billion in financing for member countries, plus $220 million in concessional financing for low-income countries; totaling $21.7 billion.
The global lender said its board reviewed facilities such as the Flexible Credit Line, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and the Rapid Financing instrument—to make sure that they continue to help countries as effectively as possible.
Also, the membership agreed to transfer gold profits to help meet the financing needs of low-income members in the years ahead.
Lagarde further affirmed that since the global financial crisis broke, the institution has provided training to all of its members and technical assistance to 90 percent of them, helping countries design, build, and strengthen the institutions that make up the building blocks of economic success.
She said for the fourth straight year, the Fund increased its delivery of technical assistance, especially in low-income countries, and increased spending on training. ‘’Demand for technical assistance continues to be strongest in the fiscal area, but it has been growing across all regions. Over the past year, the IMF launched new tools and courses, opened a new regional technical assistance center in Ghana, and received $181 million in new donor funds,’’ the INF chief said.
The IMF chief noted that during the year, the Fund has better integrated bilateral and multilateral economic surveillance, especially through its Spillover and External Sector Reports, as well as reports on groups of countries (clusters). Saying the IMF has stepped up work on topics with implications for stability and growth—including inequality, the environment, and the economic participation of women.
Lagarde said the global lender has made it a priority to better integrate bilateral and multilateral monitoring and advice. She says the priorities are clear: advanced economies need to focus on measured and well-communicated policy choices to secure the recovery; emerging markets need to strengthen their fundamentals, reduce their vulnerabilities, and step up structural reforms; and everyone needs to embrace cooperation and engage in dialogue.
The report covers the work of the IMF’s executive board and contains financial statements for the year May 1, 2013, to April 30, 2014. It describes the IMF’s support for its 188 member countries, with an emphasis on the core areas of IMF responsibility: assessing their economic and financial policies, providing financing where needed, and building capacity in key areas of economic policy.
