IMF pledges to fight slump
Global finance officials wrapped up their fall meetings on Saturday with a pledge to “employ all appropriate tools” to combat the weakest global growth in a decade, but there was little evidence of progress in easing trade tensions, a major source of the slowdown.
The policy-setting committee for the 189-nation International Monetary Fund said in a closing statement that growth should accelerate next year. Officials acknowledged that a range of factors could undermine that forecast, including continued trade fights and increased geopolitical risks.
“We recognize the need to resolve trade tensions and support the necessary reform of the World Trade Organization,” the statement said. It did not detail ways to accomplish that.
There was also no sign that discussions on the sidelines of the meetings produced any breakthrough in the trade disputes initiated by President Donald Trump as part of his get-tough approach to enforcement of U.S. trade laws.
The IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said the threat from trade wars was a chief point of discussion for finance officials.
She said the IMF has estimated that the tariffs already imposed or threatened could shave 0.8% off global growth by the end of next year. Much of that stems from the fallout on business confidence.
In trade wars, “everybody loses,” Ms. Georgieva said. “Policymakers ought to take very seriously their obligations to international cooperation in trade.”
Voting results delayed
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s election commission said it will miss the Saturday deadline for announcing initial results from the country’s presidential election on Sept. 28.
The commission attributed the delays to the timeconsuming process of weeding out fraudulent votes and “slow data entry.”
Hawa Alam Nuristani, head of the Independent Election Commission, apologized for the commission’s failure to announce the results on time.
Mrs. Nuristani gave no timetable for when the results would be announced but said she hopes it will be “as soon as possible.”
Both President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said they expect to win and indicated they will not accept defeat because of suspected flaws in the voting process.
Rain hits sodden Japan
One week after a powerful typhoon made landfall, it rained again Saturday in affected areas across eastern Japan.
In urban areas where water has receded and in river basins where embankments are being restored, there is a danger of secondary disasters resulting from loose ground. Three cities in southern Chiba prefecture issued evacuation advisories.
The typhoon left 80 people dead and 11 missing as of Friday. About 550 houses were destroyed or severely damaged, and more than 40,000 flooded. About 4,000 people are living in shelters.
The typhoon brought heavy rainfall over a wide area. From Oct. 10-13, Hakone, in Kanagawa prefecture, saw 37.1 inches of rain over 24 hours and Izu, Shizuoka prefecture, saw 28.2 inches, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.