The International Monetary Fund’s steering committee on Saturday called on member countries to use all policy tools to support a global economic recovery that continues “slowly and unevenly.”
“Overall, uncertainty and downside risks are elevated, while longstanding headwinds persist,” the International Monetary Fund and Financial Committee said in a communique.
“We reinforce our commitment to strong, sustainable, inclusive, job-rich and more balanced growth. We will use all policy tools—structural reforms, fiscal and monetary policies—both individually an collectively,” it said.
The group of 189 countries repeated their pledges to refrain from competitive currency devaluations and to not target exchange rates for competitive purposes.
“We reaffirm our commitment to communicate policy stances clearly and resist all forms of protectionism,” they said in the statement, also pledging to “reinvigorate” global trade.
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The IMF statement said that 26 member countries had pledged $360 billion in bilateral financing that can be used to supplement the Fund’s normal lending resources.
The members agreed with Managing Director Christine Lagarde’s plans to delay the next review of the Fund’s quota, or shareholding, system by about two years. They pledged to complete the review by no later than October 2019, compared with an original timetable for completion in 2017.
The last quota review, completed in 2010 but only ratified by the U.S. Congress in late 2015, resulted in a greater share for China, Brazil and other major emerging market economies.