‘DO NO HARM’ TO GLOBAL GROWTH

washington — With global growth slowing and many countries struggling with high debts, now is not the time for the “self-inflicted” economic wound of trade wars, the head of the International Monetary Fund is warning.

“The key is to avoid the wrong policies, and this is especially the case for trade,” IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said at a news conference at the opening of spring meetings of the IMF and its sister lending organisation, the World Bank. “We need to avoid self-inflicted wounds, including tariffs and other barriers.”

A key guideline for policymakers at this “delicate” time, she said, should be: “Do no harm.”

Lagarde didn’t specifically mention a yearlong standoff between the United States and China, but she didn’t have to: The world’s two biggest economies have slapped tariffs on $350 billion worth of each other’s products in the biggest trade war since the 1930s.

They are fighting over Beijing’s drive to challenge American technological dominance — an effort the US says involves stealing technology and coercing US companies into handing over trade secrets in exchange for access to the Chinese market.

The trade tensions are coming at an especially bad time. The outlook for the global economy has deteriorated. A year ago, Lagarde was talking up a world of shared growth: 75 per cent of the global economy was enjoying a synchronised upswing. Now, she says, 70 per cent of the global economy is enduring slower growth.

The IMF this week downgraded its forecast for growth this year in the United States, Europe, Japan and the world overall. The fund’s

We need to avoid self-inflicted wounds, including tariffs and other barriers Christine Lagarde,

Managing director, IMF

The current slowdown is jeopardising the fight against extreme poverty David Malpass,

President, World Bank