IMF roots for coordinated policy action

A day after it downgraded the 2019 global growth rate to 3 per cent – the slowest pace since the 2008 global financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund called for a coordinated policy action, especially from some of the world’s largest economies, including India.

Vitor Gaspar, Director of IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, noted that in a large number of advanced economies, they have very low interest rates. “Inflation in some of these countries is below target and inflation expectations are drifting down. So, our recommendation is that economies that benefit from these low or negative interest rates and have fiscal space should use it now to invest,” he added.