IMF/World bank meeting 4/12/08

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Note- This info is just coming out from the meeting yesterday. I found the comment posted below interesting. Hopefully more to come.






Statement by His Excellency
Sultan N. Al-Suwaidi
Governor of the United Arab Emirates Central Bank
On behalf of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Oman,
Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
International Monetary and Financial Committee Meeting
Saturday, April 12, 2008

Excerpt:

6. The current conjuncture of events has brought to the fore the evolving role of

emerging market and developing countries (EMDCs), particularly as a powerful engine of growth that could well prevent the global economy from sliding into recession.
Many of the emerging and developing economies have so far largely escaped the adverse effects of the current turbulence in the international financial markets, reflecting much strengthened economic fundamentals that increased their resilience to adverse shocks, as well as higher commodity prices.
For most EMDCs, the multiple challenge from overheating, growing
imported inflationary pressures, and dealing with shifts in foreign exchange inflows remains a pressing concern.
The latter could be even accentuated by the prospective easing of interest
rates in key advanced economies, as well as by the ongoing process of repricing of risk away from advanced countries’ markets. Alternatively, a reversal of capital inflows could increase vulnerabilities in countries that rely on external financing sources.




http://www.imf.org/External/spring/2008/imfc/statement/eng/uae.pdf

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More news here.


http://www.imf.org/external/news/default.aspx

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QUESTION: My question is about the currency. Yesterday, the G7 communiqué showed us some concern about the fluctuation of the major currencies and its adverse effect to the real economy and the financial markets. Do you share this concern? I would really appreciate it if you could elaborate the discussion in the IMFC over the recent fluctuation of the major currency issues.


MR. STRAUSS-KAHN: Well, I certainly share what has been written in the communiqué. We are concerned by the different currencies and the global imbalances. The global imbalances are not only the question of the currencies, but currencies are a large part of these imbalances. A discussion has been carried on last year under the name of the Multilateral Consultation on Global Imbalances, and different policies have been defined by the different partners-the EU, the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, others-of the kind of policies that should be implemented to correct those imbalances.
Even if some results, some progress has been made since that time, we have to admit that we are far from having reached the result, and new imbalances may have appeared through this turmoil. So, the question of the global imbalances in the currencies, countries having structural surpluses when some other countries have structural deficits, is a question which is really today at stake. The concern expressed by the G7 communiqué is obviously also a concern for the IMF.

http://www.imf.org/external/np/tr/2008/tr080412.htm