IMF ‘could be based in Beijing’

The International Monetary Fund could be based in Beijing in 10 years, if the Chinese economy continues its growth momentum and the IMF continues to reform, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Monday. One of the top priorities for the IMF in the next decade is to better represent its member economies, said Lagarde at an event held by the Washington-based think tank Center for Global Development. “To continue to be relevant, it (IMF) will have to be as representative as possible, and better than it is today of the membership,” Lagarde said. “If the trends continue (in terms of growth), it would mean that some of the large emerging market economies which ... are at risk of being under-represented will be better represented in the institution,” Lagarde added. respectively. The figures are 0.5 percentage points higher for 2017 and 0.3 percentage points higher for 2018 when compared with the last forecast announced by the IMF in April this year. This growth will be above that of the eurozone which, according to the latest IMF report, will stand at 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent for 2017 and 2018 respectively. The IMF, meanwhile, also gave its forecast for other major European countries, such as Germany, France and Italy. It forecasts German economy will grow by 1.8 percent in 2017 and by 1.7 percent in 2018, while French economy will grow by 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent in 2017 and 2018 respectively. tariffs, customs regulations and quantitative restrictions, amounting to almost 11 new measures per month. This constitutes a significant decrease over the previous review period of mid-October 2015 to mid-October 2016, when an average of 15 measures per month were recorded. “The report shows an encouraging decrease in the rate of new trade-restrictions put in place — hitting the lowest monthly average since the financial crisis,” said WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo. show that there is a continued move away from open trading policies. “Too many countries in and outside the EU are trying to gain a marginal advantage by creating new barriers to businesses seeking to offer choice and good service to consumers,” said Christian Verschueren, director-general of EuroCommerce.